28 October 2011

Caramel Apple Cake

Last fall I had a bunch of girlfriends over to eat ourselves stupid on fall comfort foods while watching college football and carving pumpkins.  Included on the day's menu was a Caramel Apple Cake, the recipe for which hails from the Food Network, that got rave reviews.  In honor of my office's "Fall Treat Day" this year, I decided to reprise the cake and share it with my office mates.  Again, to rave reviews (so much so that by the time I thought about snapping a picture the cake was already demolished).  The recipe is a little bit cumbersome, but stick with it, the results are worth it!

Ingredients

For the Caramel and Apples:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3 cups sugar
5 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
5 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled 

For the Batter:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Directions

Butter a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Make the caramel. Cook the sugar and corn syrup in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is dark amber, 7 to 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add the cream and 4 tablespoons butter (it will splatter) and cook, stirring, until combined, about 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and let sit 1 minute. Pour 1 1/2 cups caramel into a glass measuring cup and set aside. Pour the remaining caramel into the prepared pan and set aside until set, about 30 minutes.

Cut 4 of the peeled apples into quarters and cut out the cores with a paring knife. Arrange the pieces in the pan (overlapping them slightly). Save any pieces that do not fit for later.

Chop the bottom and any of the leftover quartered apples into pieces; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the batter. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, orange juice and vanilla.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Slip them into the mixer bowl, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 5 more minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula.

With the mixer on low speed, add half of the sour cream mixture, then half of the flour mixture. Repeat. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula; finish combining the batter by hand.

Spread the batter over the apples in the pan. Top with the chopped apple. Bake on the middle oven rack until the cake is brown on top and springs back when pressed, 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes (don't worry if the top is dark).

Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Carefully run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan several times. Invert a plate on top of the cake, then flip over the cake and plate. Using pot holders or a towel, wriggle the pan off. Soften the reserved 1 1/2 cups caramel in the microwave, about 2 minutes. Drizzle the cake with some of the caramel. Slice and serve with the rest.

19 October 2011

Team in Training

Dear family and friends:

On March 17th, 2012, my brother T and I are running the CareFirst Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in our nation’s capital, Washington DC. We’re running with Team in Training (TNT), a national organization focused on training athletes to complete endurance events all over the world. TNT provides coaching and support as we prepare our bodies for the grueling distance. In turn, we must raise a mimimum of $1200 per person to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s work toward finding a cure for blood cancers.

But I bet you’re wondering why we’re putting ourselves through all of this? In May 2011, T and I got the news that everyone dreads. Our Dad, P, had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

For several weeks we all held our breath while he underwent tests, doctor appointments and more tests. In June, we got good news. Our Dad’s cancer was indolent, follicular lymphoma – a slow moving form that readily lends itself to treatment and can often be managed for the duration of a person’s life with limited adverse impact. Relieved, we joked that he had hit the cancer jackpot. No one wants cancer, no matter how slow moving, but his particular diagnosis was met with some relief.

In late July 2011, our Dad finished nearly three weeks of radiation, a treatment the doctors said could CURE his lymphoma. All signs point to his complete recovery and we’re hopeful that his November 2011 doctor visit will reveal just that. In the mean time, he’s busy enjoying life and staying active. Our Dad has never been one to take life lying down and that was his commitment when he told us about his diagnosis – that while there might be tough days there would be no giving up.

So clearly, we’re running to honor our Dad, our own Greek warrior, in his fight with lymphoma. But just as importantly, we’re running for families who aren’t as lucky as we are – for those patients for whom a round of radiation is just the beginning. We’re running to ensure that someday soon, no child will have to hear the words drop from their father’s mouth, “I have cancer.” And no parent will have to watch their son or daughter surrender their childhood to this disease.

Every dollar we raise contributes to the vital cause of finding a cure and we can’t do it alone. If you’d like to pledge your support, donations can be made by accessing our fundraising websites.

And if you’d like to come support us as we burn through 13.1 miles, we’d love a cheering section – come on down!

Thank you for your support! It means more than we can say to our family and to countless others.

12 October 2011

Creamy mac and cheese

Are you seeing a theme? Comfort food perhaps?  Well, this blog post will offer more along the same lines - this one pulled from the pages of October's Cooking Light magazine.

This Mac and Cheese variant uses the starchy sweetness of butternut squash to develop its creaminess without all the added fat of a bechamel.  If you're looking for a super rich, homestyle mac and cheese, dripping with cheddar, parm and pecorino, well, look elsewhere.  But if you're willing to give a relatively healthy, tasty substitute a whirl, even if it doesn't have the same traditional elements, you're in for a treat.

3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 [1-pound] squash)
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk (whatever kind you have on hand)
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1 pound uncooked cavatappi
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat.

A nice bright pile of squash, before its trip into the pot

Place the hot squash mixture in a blender. Add salt, pepper, and Greek yogurt. Remove the center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure the lid on the blender. Place a clean towel over the opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Place blended squash mixture in a bowl; stir in Gruyère, pecorino Romano, and 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano. Stir until combined.

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain well. Add pasta to squash mixture, and stir until combined. Spread mixture evenly into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.

 The pasta and sauce, ready for its topping

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add panko, and cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the hot pasta mixture.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

10 October 2011

Golden Honey Apple Pie

I have a TERRIBLE track record with apple pies.  I can make pumpkin, blueberry, cherry, you name it, but recently apple has alluded me.  But if I am anything, I am persistent. My persistence found me spending the bulk of a Sunday afternoon trying to perfect the apple pie.  In the end, it wasn't perfect. But it was very good.  The trick I learned this time? It's all about the apples.  While many recipes call for Granny Smith apples, this sturdy variety doesn't always break down in the baking process leaving bony, hard apples in the finished pie.  Macintosh are great pie apples, but you can't get them in Virginia (or DC or Maryland).  With the two obvious choices out of the running to fill my pie, I had to go hunting for other choices.  After reading what felt like 6,000 other recipes, I settled on two different kinds of apples - golden delicious and honey crisp - thus the pie's Golden Honey moniker.  Both held up to the baking process without turning to mush.

Ingredients
 
Pie crust
2 1/2 cups of flour (plus more for kneading)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold butter (1 cup), diced
Ice water as needed (+/- 1/2 cup)

Filling
3 lg Honey Crisp Apples
3 lg Golden Delicious Apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Eggwash
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a food processor. Give it a quick whir to mix the salt through.  Add the diced butter. Pulse the food processor on the "dough" setting until combined. At this point your dough should look like many little balls the size of peas. Gradually add in the ice water while pulsing.  You'll know you have enough when the dough begins moving around the food processor in one large chunk rather than allowing the blade to move through it. Dump the contents of the food processor onto a floured board (or a floured clean counter top) and knead only enough to gather it into a ball.

Pie crust dough, freshly kneaded and headed for the refrigerator

Cut the dough in half and form each half into a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before attempting to roll it out.  When the dough has finished chilling, return one dough ball to the floured board.  Roll it out as evenly as possible in a large square to make the bottom crust of your pie. You'll be using a 9" pie pan, so a 12" square should cover it. When rolled out properly, the crust should a generous 1/4 inch thick.  Thicker and the crust will be mushy, thinner and your filling may break through and make a mess.  To get the pie crust from the board to your pie pan, roll it around the rolling pin and slowly roll it over the pie pan.  It's ideal if you can cover the whole pan including up the sides with one piece of crust.  But this is not an ideal world.  Once the crust is in the pan, cut the excess from around the sides.  Use these pieces to fill in the gaps where there is not enough crust in other places.  Just make sure to adhere the pieces of crust with your fingers or else the filling will leak through.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare your filling.  Mix the white and brown sugar together in a small bowl with the cinnamon. Peel and evenly slice each apple - the yield should be six or seven cups of apple slices.  Begin placing your apples in the pie working in a continuous circle from the outside.  Each apple should overlap the one before it slightly.  Filling the middle in the same circular pattern can be tricky - do the best you can.  When you've finished one layer of apples, sprinkle one-third of the sugar-cinnamon mixture over them.  Make sure to sprinkle everywhere.  Continue the same process for two more layers of apples, laying them in the overlapping circle and then sprinkling with the sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Three layers of apples, about to receive their final dusting of the sugar-cinnamon mixture

Once the apples are laid out and covered with sugar-cinnamon mix, set your pie pan aside for a moment. Quickly roll out the top layer of pie crust, ensuring again that you roll in a square(ish) shape sufficient to cover the 9" pie pan and the filling. Just before placing the top crust in place, dice two tablespoons of butter and place them randomly on top of the apple filling. Cover quickly with the pie crust, cutting off the excess and crimping the edges with either a fork or your fingers to ensure that the top and bottom crust adhere. Using a sharp knife, make three small slits in the top of the crust near the center to allow steam to escape.

Make an aluminum foil skirt for your pie.  The skirt should cover the edges of your pie and nothing else.  By baking with this skirt, the pie's edges are safe from over-browning or burning and becoming brittle.  Bake the pie with its aluminum skirt for 25 minutes.  While the pie is baking, make the egg wash by beating one egg with a tablespoon of water.  When the 25 minutes have elapsed quickly remove the pie from the oven, remove the aluminum skirt and brush the egg-wash all over the crust, including the edges.  Return the pie to the oven and continue baking for another 25 minutes.When the pie has finished baking, remove it from the oven to a cooling rack and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it.  There is nothing better than warm apple pie, but cutting into it too soon will cause it to fall apart. 

The final pie!

08 October 2011

Winter minestrone

As the weather starts to turn cold I love to make soups and stews.  I have a pretty big repertoire including chicken, beef and veggie based concoctions.  This soup is one of my all time favorites.  Like a lot of what I post here, I've taken a recipe (in this case a Giada original) and tweaked it to accommodate both what I have on hand and what I like best (potatoes!).

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound Swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves coarsely chopped
2 russet potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 fresh rosemary sprig
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
2 (14-ounce) cans low-sodium beef broth
1 ounce piece Parmesan cheese rind
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, pancetta, and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.

 The soup's base: pancetta, onions, carrots, celery and garlic

Add the Swiss chard and potato; saute for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and rosemary sprig. Simmer until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes break down, about 10 minutes.

Chard breaking down with the soup base, potatoes, tomatoes and rosemary
Meanwhile, blend 3/4 cup of the beans with 1/4 cup of the broth in a processor until almost smooth. Add the pureed bean mixture, remaining broth, and Parmesan cheese rind to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until the potato pieces are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Stir in the whole beans and parsley. Simmer until the beans are heated through and the soup is thick, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Discard Parmesan rind and rosemary sprig (the leaves will have fallen off of the stem.)

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

07 October 2011

Steak sandwich with gruyere sauce and arugula dressing

Back when Michigan went to bowl games (here's hoping we've learned how to do that again), New Years Day was a great day to spend tucked into good food and football. A few years back we had Alyce, Dave, Jody and Patrick down to celebrate the calendar holiday and to join in the football watching fiesta (Michigan beat Florida that year, so there Tim Tebo!). In honor of the days events I prepared a get it when you want it meal that included soup and what I'm going to go out on a limb here and say were amazing steak sandwiches. Which brings us to the present day, where I'm desperately searching for something interesting to make for dinner that will double as lunch at work the next day. Mental archive search results in this sandwich, which hadn't graced our table since that fateful (for Florida) New Years Day. This dish looks like it has a lot of steps, but don't be intimidated, it's easy and extremely flavorful.

Ingredients

For the Bechamel

1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk (I substitute 1% with no flavor faults)
2 cups grated Gruyere
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

For the Arugula Mayonnaise

1 bunch baby arugula
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise

    For the Steak Sandwich

    2 soft hoagie rolls
    Extra-virgin olive oil
    1/2 pound New York Strip steak, grilled and finely sliced
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Directions

    Preheat the grill to medium-high.

    Make the bechamel cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir constantly to incorporate - you do not want any color. Gradually pour in the milk as you stir, and whisk out any lumps. As the mixture thickens up continue to stir until it reaches a boil - this ensures the flour is cooked completely. Dump in the cheese and stir for another minute until the cheese is completely melted. Stir in the horseradish and season with salt and pepper, then set aside to keep warm.


    Creamy bechamel, just as the cheese melts

    Make arugula mayonnaise. Put arugula in a food processor with the lemon juice and salt and pepper. Top with mayonnaise and process until well combined. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning if required. NOTE: I know it seems like a lot of arugula, but the mayo has a strong flavor on its own, you need the whole bunch to get the full flavor.


    All the ingredients for the mayo, ready to go for a ride

    The finished mayo, prettied up with some parsley

    Prepare the steak by liberally seasoning it with salt and pepper.  Place the steak on the preheated grill and cook to medium rare.  How long is required to do this will vary based on the thickness of the meat and how hot your individual grill gets.  In general, it should be about 4 minutes per side.  When done, remove the steak from the grill and allow to rest, tented in aluminum foil for about 10 minutes.  At this point, preheat your broiler. Once the steak is thoroughly rested, slice thin and set aside.

    Split the hoagie rolls in half, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on a flat baking sheet and toast under the broiler until brown, one to two minutes.

    To serve, smear each half of the roll with the arugula mayonaisse. Top the bottom with the steak and cheese and serve.