Month: December 2019

Garlicky Beet Spread

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

This Garlicky Beet Spread has attitude! The small amount of horseradish lends a delightful piquancy without punching you in the face. Great as a dip and perfect with vegetable fritters or latkes (a crispy oniony potato pancake eaten on Hanukkah). And it’s sooooo pretty! You can whip this up in minutes, especially if you use prepared beets. And let’s face it, why make more work for yourself when there are perfectly good time-savers available?

I LOVE beets in just about any form. In fact, when I was pregnant the only craving I had in nine months was for pickled beets. So when I saw this recipe by Melissa Clark, I knew that I was going to try it. Since I happened to be cooking salmon for my Shabbat dinner, I was able to use this dip as an accompaniment. It did not disappoint. I made a few minor tweaks, both to clarify and suit it to our tastes. With Hanukkah almost here, I just might use this as an alternative to sour cream and applesauce with my latkes. Then again, why mess with tradition!

For other great beet recipes, check these out:

Moroccan Beet and Orange Salad with Pistachios

Beet and Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Moroccan Beet Salad (Barba)

Beet Caviar

And for a dessert option with beets

Fudgy Brownies with Beets and Walnuts

Recipe

Yield: About 2 cups

Ingredients

About 8 to 9 ounces of prepared beets (roasted and peeled)

2 Tablespoons EVOO

1/2 cup of lightly toasted walnuts (See note on toasting)

1 very large clove of garlic or its equivalent

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup of Greek-style yogurt (Use one that is at least 2% fat)

2 Tablespoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice (1/2 of a juicy lemon)

1 Tablespoon of fresh dill plus more for garnish

1.5 teaspoons of prepared fresh horseradish (I happened to use beet horseradish which only enhanced the color of the dip)

Directions

Using a food processor, grind the walnuts, garlic and salt until very fine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients. Pulse until mostly smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt, if needed.

Note on toasting nuts

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the nuts on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for about 12 minutes or until you just begin to smell the nuts. You can shake the pan once during the cooking. Alternatively, you can toast nuts in a dry pan on your stove. Watch them carefully, jiggling every few minutes. Nothing will happen until it does. The second you smell the nuts, remove them from the heat. These methods work with just about any nut. I always toast more than I need and use up extras in salads or for munching.

Chocolate Stout Gingerbread Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

Chocolate Stout Gingerbread Cake is everything that makes the fall and winter cold worthwhile. When I baked this cake my house smelled of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and molasses. And did I mention chocolate? Every time I lift the cover on my cake plate the scents of mulled spices waft up and fill me with the smells of cozy snuggles in front of the fireplace.

This incredibly moist, dark, rich – and yet simple – cake is the perfect dessert for those long, chilly evenings that will be with us for the next several months. Eat Chocolate Stout Gingerbread Cake as is or warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. And if you can’t find chocolate stout, any dark stout will work here. While this gingerbread certainly is not complicated, you can also try the James Beard Gingerbread which is so easy and quick that I used to make it for my son to enjoy after I returned home from a long day of work.

The recipe for this cake comes from Claudia Fleming via David Lebovitz and tweaked by me.

Recipe

Yield: One 10-cup bundt cake

Ingredients

1 cup stout, preferably chocolate

1 cup light molasses

1/2 Tablespoon light molasses

1/2 Tablespoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

2 Tablespoons ground ginger

3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

3 large or extra large eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup neutral-flavored vegetable oil (I used Canola)

1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a cooking spray with flour such as Baker’s Joy, generously coat a 10-cup bundt pan. Be sure to use one that does not have a lot of grooves or the moist cake will be more likely to stick.

Heat the molasses and stout in a deep, medium saucepan until it comes to a boil. (You need a lot of headroom in the pot!) Turn off the heat and stir in the baking soda. The contents will whoosh up so be prepared. Allow the foam to subside and the mixture to cool a bit.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and all of the dry spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the granulated and brown sugars until there are no lumps. Then whisk in the oil until smooth.

Now whisk in the molasses/stout mixture and then gradually whisk in the dry ingredients just until mixed through. Stir in the fresh ginger. The batter will be rather liquidy but don’t worry – it’s the way it should be.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. This can take anywhere from one hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Allow the cake to cool most of the way in the pan – until you can easily handle the pan with your bare hands. Gently run a thin spatula around the edges of the cake. Then turn the cake out. I had to give it a few good bangs onto my cake plate but it came out cleanly. Now enjoy! My husband especially loves eating the cake warmed up in the microwave for about 10 seconds with vanilla ice cream and old-fashioned fruit compote on the side.

Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Tofu

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Meatless Monday

Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Tofu is a delicious meatless meal ready in 30 minutes. It’s ingredients are flexible. And with a few cheats anyone can make this in under 30 minutes. If you are looking for a meatless Monday meal or just something fresh and healthy, look no further.

The One Joy of Getting Older

My husband and I just returned from two glorious weeks with our first grandchild. I know that everyone says this, but our granddaughter REALLY is the most beautiful, wonderful baby ever – until the next one! While it was great visiting our kids and spending so much time together, I returned home tired and with a bad throat. After one expensive and awful order-in meal, I decided that I simply needed to cook something healthy for us that wouldn’t take a lot of time or energy. The Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Tofu was the perfect solution.

Making Use of Cooking Cheats

I placed an online delivery order and had everything I needed for a week of food within a couple of hours. I normally really enjoy grocery shopping and am VERY picky about my produce, so I was a bit anxious how the order would turn out. In general, it was pretty good and a nice option when you are under-the-weather or the weather is awful.

The prep for this meal took no time which left plenty of time for watching videos of our granddaughter. While I enjoy doing things myself in the kitchen and understand that it can be more cost-effective, sometimes using some cheats is worth it. Time is an all-too-precious commodity that most of us don’t have. So if you want to make your own cauliflower “rice” and grate your own ginger, please do. But many of us are lucky enough to live within easy access to quality prepared ingredients. And, I for one, am not ashamed to admit using them from time to time.

Don’t get too bogged down in actual quantities. You can be flexible. If you want more carrot, go for it. If you don’t like or can’t get sugar snap peas, use frozen English peas etc.

Recipe

Yield: 2 to 4 servings, depending on appetite (My husband and I ate the whole thing)

Ingredients

16 oz. cauliflower “rice”

7 oz. baked tofu (Like Wildwood brand Teriyaki Baked Tofu) cut into 1-inch dice

3 Large or Xtra Large eggs, lightly beaten wit the Mirin, if using

About 2 teaspoons of Mirin or dry sherry (optional)

3 to 4 scallions, white and light green part only – thinly sliced

1 carrot, peeled and cut into smallish dice

About 1 cup of sugar snap or snow peas, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal OR 1 cup of frozen peas

About one cup of fresh mung bean sprouts, rinsed in cold water

1 Tablespoon grated fresh peeled ginger (I used prepared fresh ginger from a jar)

1 rounded teaspoon crushed or finely minced fresh garlic

About 3 Tablespoons neutral oil like Canola

About 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy or tamari sauce or to taste

Generous pinch of kosher salt

Toasted Sesame oil for drizzling

Directions

Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the scallions and toss for about 1 minute. Then add the beaten eggs and cook as you would an omelette. When the omelette is cooked through, remove it from the pan and slice it into strips.

In the same wok or pan, add the last tablespoon of oil. Add the grated ginger and garlic and saute for about a minute. Add the cauliflower “rice” and carrot and toss well to coat with the oil, garlic and ginger. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or just until the cauliflower begins to soften. Now add soy sauce and toss through.

Add the tofu, peas and egg/scallion strips and toss through. Add the bean sprouts and quickly toss. Taste and adjust salt/ soy sauce. Serve drizzled with sesame oil. If you want to get fancier you can top with a little extra sliced scallion.

Lavender Mint Shortbread Cookies

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

I decided to revisit this recipe after watching an episode of Valerie Bertinelli where she made lemon rosemary shortbread. I made a few changes and I think you will really like the results. These melt-in-your mouth Lavender Mint Shortbread Cookies are a little taste of Provence. Give them a try; they make wonderful holiday or hostess gift cookies. For other delicious and easy-to-make cookies for an afternoon tea, try Financiers or Mandelbread.

I tend to get seduced by recipes and so I have all of these special spices and herbs around the kitchen. When a colleague baked some lavender cookies, I, of course, went on a search for the best dried edible lavender. Growing up, lavender grew like a weed in our backyard and every year my mother and I would dry it and then sew sachets for gifts and to put in our drawers. I still remember the beautiful amber colored watered silk that we used to contrast with the pretty lavender colored ribbon that we tied around the sachet. While these cookies will most definitely NOT go in my lingerie drawer, they do evoke that wonderful childhood memory. However, they do not taste like potpourri or soap. They taste like Provence, the flavoring is actually quite subtle and they simply melt in your mouth. While not vegan, they do not have any egg. They could be made with vegan buttery sticks, but since butter is the star here, personally I would not go that route. Your choice.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies by Erica Leahy, The Artist Baker – Morristown, NJ and tweaked by me

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lavender or 1.5 teaspoons dried lavender buds
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1.5 teaspoons dried mint
  • Zest of one lemon

For Garnish

  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried lavender
  • 1/4 cup granulated or coarse sugar

Directions

  1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and salt until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes. Add in vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose and cake flours. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Add the lavender, lemon zest and mint and mix to just combine. The dough may appear crumbly but will come together when rolled in plastic wrap.
  2. Roll out the dough to a long roll about 2.5 inches in diameter, using the plastic wrap to form the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  3. Meanwhile mix the 1/4 cup sugar with the lemon zest and lavender in a small bowl. Cover and set aside.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cut the log in half and refrigerate one half while you work on the other half. Using a sharp chef’s knife, slice the dough into 1/2 inch thick disks and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies until just golden at the edges, about 25 to 28 minutes. Ovens vary so watch them after 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the lemon, lavender sugar mixture. Any extra will be wonderful in tea or certain mixed drinks. Let cool completely before serving. While these will be delicious with coffee or milk, the true, delicate floral notes will come out with a nice light tea or a dessert wine.