Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

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Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon closeThese Brussels sprouts might be just an excuse to eat bacon but with Thanksgiving upon us, they are also the perfect side dish for that traditional Turkey. This is not a Paula Peck recipe but rather an adaptation from “The James Beard Cookbook” by her good friend and mentor James Beard. Although Brussels sprouts are more popular now than ever, it seems people either love them or hate them. If you hate them, than you probably haven’t tasted those that are cooked right. These bright green bulbs can be bland and mushy when overcooked but are tender with almost crunchy light leafy layers when cooked correctly. A little bacon doesn’t hurt either.

With just a few additions, brussels sprouts with bacon is the perfect example of the important culinary concept of balancing fat, acid, sweet, and salt. The fat is the bacon (obviously) plus a finishing of butter…just a tablespoon. The sweet is both the brussel sprouts themselves as well as a pinch of sugar. The acid is a squeeze lemon juice at the end and the salt is the seasoning combined with some of the saltiness of the bacon. Ok so I didn’t say this is healthy but at least we are eating vegetables!  Even those friends or family members that “never eat green things” will be back for seconds. This dish might also be in the running to outshine that drab dry turkey and stuffing. Now I’ve gone too far…Happy Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:

1 lb or 1 quart Brussels Sprouts
6 slices bacon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated onion or shallot
pinch (large) sugar
1 tablespoon or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Trim the stems close to the sprouts and remove any discolored leaves. Soak the sprouts for 15-20 minutes in water with 1 teaspoon salt. In a medium pot, pour enough water to cover the brussels sprouts and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring water to a boil and add sprouts. Do not cover. Cook gently for 5 minutes until sprouts turn bright green and are just barely tender when pierced with a fork.

While brussls sprouts cook, fry the 6 slices of bacon in a large skillet. When crisp, remove and chop. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon grated onion. Return chopped bacon to the pan and add the cooked, drained brussels sprouts. Add sugar and saute until brussels sprouts are tender. To finish, add 1 tablespoon grated onion, squeeze lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from “The James Beard Cookbook,” by James Beard.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

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Mocha Torte

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Mocha Torte

Mocha Torte

The holidays are good excuse to eat cake. Personally, I will eat cake anytime anywhere, but for those of us that are a bit more health conscious, an actual reason or occasion maybe required to eat cake. Although fancy holiday flavors like ginger, pumpkin, and apple maybe the more obvious choice – sometimes you just want something rich and chocolaty to finish of that holiday meal. This mocha torte fits the bill. With a layer of apricot preserves, it resembles the famous Viennese Sacher Torte that my grandmother worked so hard to perfect later in her career. However, these cake layers are composed of Paula Peck’s famous genoise and then smothered with a velvety mocha buttercream that is so good it’s hard not to eat by spoonful. And unlike the Sacher Torte, which is finished with a chocolate glaze, this torte is garnished with semi-sweet chocolate discs that melt in your mouth.

You may be thinking that this cake sounds like a lot of work. Afterall, making a cake can be somewhat of daunting task. There are, of course, ways to simplify the process. You can always skip the chocolate rounds and you can even skip the apricot preserves (the chocolate/fruit preserves combination tends to lack in popularity with younger generations these days). No need to worry about pastry bags or making a mess with a piping bag, the cake can simply be frosted with a spatula. The mocha buttercream with its hint of coffee that brings out the chocolate flavor in the moist cake, will speak for itself.

Ingredients:

1 recipe (two 9-inch layers) Chocolate Genoise
1/4 cup cognac (optional)
2/3 cup apricot jam or preserves
1 1/2 cups Speedy Mocha Buttercream
16 thin 2-inch chocolate rounds (recipe follows)

Sprinkle cake layers with cognac, if using. Sandwich them together with apricot jam or preserves. Spread sides and top smoothly with buttercream, reserving some for decoration.

Arrange chocolate rounds next to each other flat against side of torte. Save 3 chocolate rounds to cut into quarters (optional). Set quarters flat in the butter cream around the top of the cake. Decorate the torte with remaining buttercream pressed through a medium star tube.

Chocolate Rounds

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Melt chocolate over hot water. Stir in shortening. Spread chocolate thinly on cooky sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes or until chocolate just begins to set.

Cut out rounds using a cookie cutter or the top of a water glass. Place back in refrigerator until chocolate is completely firm. Peel chocolate off paper.

Adapted from “The Art of Find Baking,” by Paula Peck

Mocha Torte Slice

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Cheese Blintzes – with Classic Apple or Tangy Pomegranate Sauce

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Pomegranate Blintzes

Blintzes are one of those dishes that almost everyone has heard of but few have actually bothered to try. Popularized by Jewish immigrants, Blintzes are often sold frozen, next to Knish or even Bureka in a low profile section that the grocery store may refer to as “ethnic foods.” This is not usually a good representation of Blintzes. These crepe-like packages are surprisingly tasty when made fresh and the toppings and fillings (to some extent) are as versatile as you want them to be. This unpublished traditional batter recipe and farmer cheese filling came from my great grandmother, Shirley Zweier (Paula Peck’s mother). It may come as shock but Shirley was not a particularly good cook. Stories involving her and food usually revolved around her grocery shopping habits – like taking a bite out of a whole tomato and putting it back on the shelf/pile if she didn’t like how it tasted. Anything she made in the kitchen had to be simple and this recipe is no exception.

The batter for these blintzes is similar to that of a pancake, but thinner and does not contain any leavening. The simple mixture of flour, egg, and milk is used to create large crepes that can be rolled or folded around the sweetened cheese and raisin filling. Since the batter and filling are fairly traditional, I took some liberties with the toppings. My father remembers these blintzes served with a more old-fashioned apple sauce topping (which I’ve provided below). It’s hard to go wrong with seasonal honey crisp apples sauce as a complement to the creamy cheese filling. However, the winner here is the pomegranate sauce. Yes, it’s totally untraditional. But with its tart and tangy bright flavor, it rounds off the mild sweetness of these dessert-like packages just perfectly.

Batter
4 eggs
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2-2 cups milk

Filling
1 lb dry cottage cheese or farmer chees
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup yellow raisins

Whisk eggs and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add just enough milk to make the consistency of light cream. Allow mixture to stand for at least an hour. If it thickens, add a little more milk.

Heat an omelet-style saute pan over low heat. Brush with melted butter. Pour a small ladle of batter into pan. Tilt pan so that batter is thin and evenly distributes in the shape of a flat pancake. Allow pancake to dry. Turn out on a sheet of wax papper. Continue with remaining batter.

While pancakes cool, make filling: mix cheese with sugar and eggs. Add sour cream and vanilla. Stir in raisins. Cover and place in the refrigerator until pancakes are ready to handle.

Place a heaping spoonful of filling in the center of each pancake and fold like a package or burrito. Reheat omelet-style pan over medium-low heat and brush with butter. Saute blintzes a few minutes on each side until just lightly browned. Serve with Pomegranate Sauce or Chunky Honey Crisp Apple Sauce (recipes follow).

Makes 6-8

Pomegranate Sauce
2 pomegranates, seeded
1-2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Set aside about 1/3 cup of the pomegranate seeds. Juice the remaining seeds by crushing in a sieve. Discard crushed seeds.

Preheat a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add pomegranate juice and honey. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Create a slurry with the cornstarch: whisk a few tablespoons hot pomegranate juice with the cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth. Add to remaining juice in pan. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer until thickened. Allow to cool a few minutes and then add 1/3 cup seeds.

Note: store bought pomegranate juice (100% juice such as POM) maybe used to save time (instead of juicing seeds).

Yield: About 1/2 cup

Chunky Honey Crisp Apple Sauce
6 medium honey crisp apples (about 2 lbs)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 a lemon

Peel apples. Rub with lemon to avoid browning. Dice apples. Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring every few minutes until apples are soft and beginning to break up. Add another 1/4-1/2 water if apples appear too dry during the cooking process. Stir with a fork to break up apples even further. Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.

Yield: About 2 cups

Apple Blintzes

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Veggie Stuffed Eggplant – Imam Bayeldi

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Veggie Stuffed Eggplant - Imam Bayeldi

Stuffed EggplantCatching the tail end of eggplant the season, this eye-pleasing dish showcases the juicy late summer (or fall) vegan favorite. I previously posted a couple of my grandmother’s vegetarian dishes. Paula Peck was not known for cooking vegetables and when she did, there were often whole sticks of butter or cups of olive oil involved. As a veggie lover though, I’ve managed to revise some of these dishes so that the flavor is maintained, but with less fat. In this case, the eggplant is stuffed with a fragrant mixture of garlic, onion, celery, tomato puree and herbs. These flavors soak into the eggplant as it roasts with just enough olive oil to keep it moist. The resulting succulent meaty flesh will make you forget that you’re eating an almost guilt-free and healthy dish.

So what does this strange recipe title “Imam Byaldi” have to do with eggplant? Well according to my grandmother’s introduction to this recipe in “The Art of Good Cooking,” the old Armenian title means “’the Holy Man fainted’- of shock because the eggplant tasted so good!” Ok so nobody is going to faint when they eat this stuffed eggplant, but it is pretty tasty.

Ingredients:

4 small eggplants
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped celery leaves
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 teaspoon crumbled bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Cut eggplant lengthwise into halves. Salt cut sides generously and let stand for about a 1/2 hour (this draws out the bitterness from the eggplant).

Preheat oven. Rinse eggplants and dry with paper towels. Brush cut sides with some olive oil. Place eggplants on a baking sheet, cut side up. Bake until centers are soft and lightly browned.

While the eggplants are baking, prepare the following stuffing: sauté onions, green pepper, celery, and garlic in remaining olive oil until vegetables are soft but not brown. Add chopped celery leaves and parsley. Stir until leaves are wilted, then add tomato puree and herbs. Add sugar then salt and pepper to taste. Cook a few more minutes. Set stuffing aside until needed.

When eggplants are tender, allow them to cool so they can be easily handled. Raise oven heat to 350 degrees.

With a small knife, make an incision lengthwise, down the center of the cut side, being careful not to cut all the way through the eggplant. With your fingers, press soft pulp away from the incision on the 2 long sides so that a good-sized hollow is formed. Fill the hollows with the prepared filling, using a spoon.

Arrange stuffed eggplants on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional olive oil if filling looks dry. Bake for 45 minutes, basting with olive oil as necessary.

Note: To speed up this recipe, cut eggplant 1/2 inch thick and after it has been baked until tender, place slices of eggplant in a casserole. Arrange them alternately with the stuffing. Bake 30-40 minutes.

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Crackled Chocolate Drops

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Crackled Chocolate Drops

Chocolate Crackled Drops

A simple chocolate cookie can be the perfect crave-worthy treat. Using ingredients you probably already have on hand, these Crackled Chocolate Drops are quick, easy, and best of all chocolaty. I still get excited about making recipes by my grandmother that contain chocolate. With the number of recipes in “The Art of Fine Baking,” the chocolate ones are surprisingly few and far between. Much of her baking from the early 1960’s was European inspired. Classics like Genoise, French-style Fruit Tarts, Strudel, and Danish Pastry allowed little room for chocolate. Also, chocolate with varying degrees of cocoa butter content were not nearly as accessible at the time as they are now. I like to think that as the popularity of chocolate and its availability grew, my grandmother would have eventually come up with a book full of chocolate recipes to die for. Her Brownie recipe has always been a favorite and in my opinion these crackled chocolate cookies aren’t far behind.

The majority of this recipe is just chocolate and ground almonds. The original recipe called for grated almonds, which most of us don’t have time for. If you prefer a lighter, fluffier cookie and your purse strings are a bit looser, you can use Almond flour. The high egg yolk content then keeps the center of the cookie moist and chocolaty. As the smell of melted chocolate and almonds permeates your kitchen, these crackled drop cookies will barely make it out of the oven before they’re half gone.

Ingredients:

8 oz semisweet chocolate
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup ground almonds or almond flour
7/8 cup sifted flour pinch of salt

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Grease and flour a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper).

Melt chocolate over over a double boiler. While chocolate is melting, beat egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Stir in melted chocolate, grated almonds, and flour mixed with salt.

Drop or pipe small rounds of batter on prepared cookie sheet, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Bake about 25 minutes, or until cookies are crackled and dry.

Yield: about 30

Adapted from “The Art of Fine Baking,” by Paula Peck.

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