apuginthekitchen

Nov 17

Buttermilk Pancakes

I am sure you are saying, ho hum who doesn’t know how to make panceakes and who needs another pancake recipe. Well, I am always on the lookout for a basic recipe with a technique I have never used before when making it in the hopes that it will be just a little more stand out. I saw this recipe on Food and Wine Daily, the pancakes looked so good I had to give it a try, The difference here is that you beat the eggs with a hand held mixer until they double in volume about 3-4 minutes. Most pancake recipes you simply beat the eggs with the milk and fat and add the wet to the dry, this is sort of the reverse and intrigued me.

The perfect opportunity for me to give these a try was this morning, I had Air bnb guests here and they wanted pancakes. The pancakes are a little more labor intensive than the recipe I normally use. Hopefully the extra effort will pay off.

The batter is very thick and fluffy. These are not pancakes you pour into the pan or onto the griddle. See…

Really thick batter

You have to have the temperature right a medium flame works well, they are thick so the batter takes a while to bubble and if the temperature is too high the middle will not be done. The first 4 I fried in butter, the pancakes pictured here I sprayed oil in the pan and I prefer it that way, although the butter gave a nice crispy exterior. The pancakes had kind of a light cake like texture and tasted really nice. I think it’s a good recipe but will probably stick to my go to pancakes from Betty Crocker that my Mom used and so do I. It’s quick and easy and they are always good.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Made 7 pancakes (heaping 1/3 cup of batter)

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour

1 1/2 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 tbs unsalted butter melted plus more for cooking the pancakes

Warm maple syrup and soft butter for serving

You can add blueberries when you pour the batter on the griddle if you like.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the eggs until light and creamy and doubled in volume, now beat in the buttermilk and butter. Gently fold in the dry ingredients. Put about 1/3 cup batter on griddle or in non stick skillet. Cook on moderate heat for 1-2 minutes or until they are golden brown and bubbles appear on the surface. Flip over and cook another 1-2 minutes. Place in warm oven while you make the rest.

Nov 13

124 Comments

Fall Apple/Pear Tart For Fiesta Friday #94

I have been a tart making mad woman lately. I feel like I always am elbow deep in dough and honestly, I love it. Making pies and tarts is one of my favorite things to bake. There is something about the flaky buttery pastry crust with some sort of filling whether it be sweet or savory that just feels like home and comfort. I had to make some tarts for an office potluck (sort of early holiday) party and made extra so I could bring to the party. I am bringing an apple and pear tart decorated with fall leaves. I used a different method than making an apple pie for this tart, I wanted it to have a crisp crust and it had to be able to be eaten standing so no juicy piece of apple pie for this event. I blind baked a rectangular tart shell and oven roasted some apples and nicely ripened pears in poire william and brown sugar letting them get nicely soft. The fall leaves were also baked ahead and placed on the tart half way through the baking process. It really turned out nicely.

Thank you to Angie@Fiesta Friday for hosting and our co hosts this week are Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Stef @ The Kiwi Fruit. Thanks for hosting and I hope you all enjoy the tart.

Pie Dough

Julia Child makes a 9 inch double crust pie or 2 9 inch tarts

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

6 oz good unsalted butter (I use Irish butter – Kerry Gold very cold

4 tbs shortening cold

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup ice cold water

Place flours and salt in mixing bowl, whisk to combine. Cut in the butter and shortening with pastry cutter so that it resembles course crumbs. Pour in the water and mix just to combine with a fork. Gather the dough and divide in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and press into a disk shape. Refrigerate at least an hour or overnight.

blind bake tart shell

Blind Bake

Pre heat oven to 400 degree’s.

Roll dough, I like it pretty thin. Cut off a little bit of each disk so you can make the leaves and set aside. Place in the tart pan, prick bottom with fork and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Line baking sheet with parchment, place another piece of parchment on the frozen tart and weigh it down with pie weights or beans whatever you use. Bake for 20 minutes watching that it doesn’t brown to deeply. Remove from oven, let cool for about ten minutes and remove the pie weights. Let the tart shell cool on a rack.

With the reserved dough use cookie cutters in the shape of leaves and press out an assortment of leaves at least 1 dozen or more. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and place in freezer.

Reduce oven to 375 and bake the leaves for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. let cool on rack.

Apples and Pears

2 apples peeled cut in half and cored

2 pears peeled cut in half and cored

1/3 cup Poire William or pear nectar, apple cider or combination of all or some

1/3 cup brown sugar

pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg

Butter a baking dish and place your pears and apples cut side down, pour in the liquid and sprinkle on the brown sugar. Dot with some butter. Bake for about 40 minutes, the pears and apples should be soft but not mushy.

Drain off the liquid and reserve for later and let the fruit cool to room temperature.

Baking the tart

Place the pears and apples in the tart shell, whisk 1 1/2 tbs of corn starch, or flour, cinnamon and nutmeg with the reserved liquid. Pour over the fruit and place in the 375 degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven and carefully place the leaves on top of the tart, return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To finish the tart I heated some apricot preserves and brushed the leaves so they were lovely and shiny.

Nov 10

83 Comments

Chai Spiced Pear Butter

Yesterday when I posted about Sonal’s wonderful gift of spices I included her recipe for Chai Tea, which I am totally addicted to by the way. It’s delicious. I bought an abundance of pears and some were really ripe, I had so many I couldn’t eat them fast enough so I decided to oven roast and refrigerate until I figured out what to do with them. I thought the pears would be awesome with the chai spice and making pear butter (just like apple butter) would be wonderful. It’s so unbelievably simple to make and incredibly delicious you will be amazed. The pear butter is wonderful on toast or bread, on hot cereal or eat it straight from the jar.

Chai Spiced Pear Butter

Makes approximately 2 eight ounce jars

6 pears – I used bartlett very ripe peeled, cut in half and cored

1/3 cup packed +2 tbs brown sugar

1/3 cup Poire William (pear liquor) or pear nectar or water.

2 vanilla beans (sliced open)

Pre heat oven to 375 degree’s. place the pear halves cored size down in a 9×13 rectangular baking dish (ceramic or glass is best non reactive), pour the liquid in the baking dish, sprinkle the pears with the brown sugar, place the vanilla beans in the liquid and place in the oven. Note: I buttered my baking dish but it’s not necessary.

Bake the pears for about 45 minutes, turning the pears over half way through baking, the liquid should have reduced to almost nothing, only just barely covering the bottom of the baking dish, the pears will have started to caramelize and will be very soft. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. You want the pears very warm.

Making the pear butter

Place warm pears with the small amount of residual juice in a blender, add 1/2 tsp chai spice and a a tiny pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Pour into clean canning jars and store in the refrigerator.

Nov 9

65 Comments

A Gift, A Giving Community, Announcing A Holiday Giveaway And A Hot Cup Of Chai

From Sonal-Simply Vegetarian 777

I follow many blogs, I love them all and try my best to read and comment or at least like every one or as close as I can get to acknowledging them. One blog I love and follow is Sonal’s beautiful Simply Vegetarian777, chock full of delicious recipes and gorgeous photography it is one of those blogs that takes your breath away. Sonal also happens to be one of the sweetest and kindest individuals you will ever know and although we have never met in person I feel like we are close friends albeit virtual, she has touched my life and my kitchen with her generosity. This is the second batch of spices she has sent me, thank you my friend. I saw this recipe on her site a few weeks back and immediately commented how I had to make it it just sounds incredible. It’s an Indian breakfast dish called Bread Poha. Now I am challenged in the spicing department, I notoriously underspice and have become befuddled when faced with a recipe that uses many different spices in one dish. Sonal knowing me and seeing my plight sent me pre measured spice packets, everything the spicing challenged will need to put together a scrumptious meal and I must add that she included detailed instructions. Sonal, market these please I will be your first customer.

I was the lucky recipient previously of some of her genius spice blends and made this Kofta Korma which literally knocked my socks off, I followed her basic recipe for Korma adapting it to use meat.

How wonderful is our community of bloggers, most of us have never met each other, we visit and comment on each others blogs and become online friends and if we are lucky we get to meet each other. We lift each other up and encourage and in the case of dear Sonal, without asking or expecting anything she sends me the spice packets, but not just spices everything I need for pilaf incuding the rice and dal with the spices. I will be making dishes from each item she sent me and posting it here. The first will be the bread poho, it uses day (s) old bread which I don’t have so I am letting a baguette sit for a few days.

In the spirit of giving I wanted to announce that the last week of November there will be a giveaway which I am very excited about. It’s wonderful I won’t say what it is (surprises are fun) but I am sure you will all love it and it will be my gift to you, or at least one (or two) of you.

Chai Tea

Sonal-Simply Vegetarian 777

1 cup water

3 tbs milk (I used half and half)

a good pinch of Sonal’s Chai Spice (it was about 1/2 tsp)

Black tea (either tea bag or loose tea

Sweetener of your choice

Bring the water, milk and spice to a rolling boil, add the tea and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Strain into a cup and enjoy!! Sweeten if you like. I added a spoonful of honey to mine.

As I type this I am enjoying a hot cup of chai and it’s absolutely delicious, the spices are perfection. I usually use a prepared chai tea but have to say making it this way with the spice mix produces a superior cup of chai. There is nothing like a hot cup of Chai to warm you on a cold day. Thank you Sonal!!

Nov 8

72 Comments

Braised Country Ribs

One of my favorite cuts of pork (ribs) are country ribs. They are very meaty and tender when cooked with a slow braise and very very flavorful. I will often put in in a tomato sauce when I make an Italian meal the sauce is amazing when you use this cut. Today I am doing something a little different. It’s very simple to make, most of the cooking time is in the oven. If I had a slow cooker I would use that. Serving for dinner tonight with some oven roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. It’s a stick to your ribs, satisfying comfort meal.

Country Pork Ribs

Braised Country Ribs

Serves 3-4

3 lbs Country ribs (approx 4 ribs)

1 stalk celery chopped

1 carrot cut or chopped

1 medium yellow onion chopped

3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed

2 tbs tomato paste

1 cup good white wine – I used a Pinot D’Alsace

1 cup apple cider

1/2 cup water (you can also use chicken or vegetable broth)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degree’s. Place 2 tbs olive oil in dutch oven and heat on high, pat dry the ribs and sear in the hot pan until browned on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add a little more olive oil and add the vegetables and garlic. Saute until soft, add the tomato paste and cook for about a minute or until the tomato paste is cooked and no longer raw. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Add the ribs back into the pan along with accumulated juices. Add the cider and water the liquid should come a little more than half way up the ribs add more water or broth if your ribs are thicker than mine were. Bring to a simmer and then cover and place in the oven.

Let cook in the oven for approximately 3 hours, the meat should be fall off the bone tender. When the meat is done raise the oven temp to 350, remove the lid and let it continue to cook until the liquid is reduced by half and the meat is browned it takes about 30 minutes.

Nov 4

103 Comments

Roasted Acorn Squash With Garlic Butter And Burrata

This is a recipe from Food and Wine and I thought it sounded wonderful. I am making a conscience effort to eat more vegetables, salads and trying to lose a few pounds before the Holiday Season starts, for me once Thanksgiving arrives the feasting begins and I want to eat sensibly and lose a few pounds to keep the Holiday weight gain at bay.

If I am going to eat a salad or vegetables I need and want lots of flavor and it should use the vegetables in a creative and delicious way. This recipe really has all of that, it’s a seasonal warm salad or a light main course. It is very simple to prepare and I love a meal that contains few ingredients simply prepared and is delicious and nutritious. Warm buttery roasted acorn squash with creamy burrata and greens dressed simply with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

The combination is unexpected and completely delicious, I used assorted micro greens which had a little bit of a bite, some a little bitter and this paired so beautifully with the sweet acorn squash bathed in butter, garlic and shallot and creamy burrata. Note: I did not add the red onion to the greens, I am not a fan of raw onion in salads. I put the burrata in the squash and placed in the warm oven so the cheese got nice and soft and melty.

The recipe was created by Chef Dave Beran and he recommends a nice Chardonnay to go with.

Roasted Acorn Squash With Garlic Butter And Burrata

Serves 4

4 tbs unsalted butter melted

1 tbs minced shallot

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme leaves

kosher salt

black pepper

2 1 1/2 lb acorn squash cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs aged balsamic vinegar

4 cups (2 oz) mixed salad greens

1/4 of a small red onion sliced very thin

1 1/2 lb ball of burrata cheese

cracked black pepper and flaky sea salt to garnish

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a bowl, combine the butter, shallot, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Season the squash halves with salt and pepper and set on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the garlic butter and roast for about 30 minutes, until the squash is golden and tender. Transfer to plates.

In a bowl, whisk the oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add the baby greens and red onion and toss to coat. Cut the burrata into 4 pieces. Top each squash half with burrata and salad, garnish with cracked pepper and sea salt and serve warm.

Oct 31

80 Comments

Halloween In Clinton Hill

I had to snap fast because it was getting dark, I forget how quickly it turns dark now. This year the turn out was HUGE, there were thousands and thousands of people out on the streets. It was a beautiful evening, not too cool, just perfect really. Had a lot of fun talking to my neighbors.

After I got back I sat on my stoop with candy and there were so many people it was literally gone in 10 minutes. When I first moved here I was lucky if 1 or 2 people stopped by trick or treating. In just a few years it has grown to a Halloween destination.

Some of the photo’s are a bit blurry I was snapping as I was walking trying to beat the darkness but you can get an idea of the scope of this event. It was so much fun, love seeing all my neighbors, everyone and I mean everyone gets into the spirit of Halloween. It’s much bigger than any other holiday and people from all over come here for this, I am constantly amazed just how many people come from outside of the neighborhood just to see and experience Halloween in Clinton Hill. Here are a few photo’s from tonight.

Gone in 10

Starting out already pretty crowded

My neighbor decked out

dead zombie band great jazz

Some can’t resist making a politcal statement

Oct 31

78 Comments

Happy Halloween And Some Pumpkin Spice Latte Doughnut Muffins For Fiesta Friday

How many of you have had a Pumpkin Spice Latte? They are really delicious and are a greatl hot beverage on a cold Fall/winter morning. This was my inspiration for these muffins. Pumpkin, spice, coffee baked into a delicious cake like muffin dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. The recipe is one of my favorite muffin recipes from Food52 Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs. It’s really delicious. I wanted to switch it up a bit and add some pumpkin and coffee to mimic the latte. They are wonderfully soft and cake like with a hint of pumpkin and coffee.

I thought this would be a nice sweet treat to bring to Fiesta Friday, sorry Angie you might find some sugar granules on your floor, they are a little messy but sooooo good. There are no co hosts today so sweet Angie is manning the helm herself, Thanks Angie for always being there and if any of you would like to join the party feel free to follow the link, we need co hosts to step up to the plate.

Muffins and Coffee

Pumpkin Spice Latte Doughnut Muffins

Adapted from a recipe on Food52 from five and spice

Makes 12 muffins

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp ginger

1 heaping tsp powdered or granulated coffee or espresso powder

scant 1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature

3 tbs pumpkin puree

1/2 stick or 4 tbs unsalted butter melted

cinnamon sugar

Melt butter either on the stove or in the microwave in glass or ceramic. Set aside to cool. Pre heat oven to 350 degree’s and butter or oil/spray muffin tin.

Add sugar and egg and cooled butter to mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy approximately 2 minutes. In separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices and set aside. Heat the milk just until warm in the microwave and add the coffee, stir in the pumpkin. On medium low speed alternately beat the flour mixture and wet ingredients only until combined. Spoon into muffin tin (NOTE: the muffins are small so spoon only a little of the batter to each) The recipe makes exactly 12 muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in muffin tin until they are just warm enough to handle. Have your melted butter and cinnamon sugar ready. Dip each muffin in butter first covering the entire muffin and then into the cinnamon sugar. Enjoy immediately.

Business are decorated

Saw these on pinterest and couldn’t resist. I miss dressing Izzy and Nando for Halloween.

Witchy pug

iphone pug

Have a wonderfully spooky and treat filled Halloween everyone! I will be walking the neighborhood today taking photo’s that I will share with you all. Remember to set the clocks back an hour. Day light savings time ends at 2AM.

Oct 26

105 Comments

Fall Harvest Salad And Meeting A Friend

I honestly didn’t know what to call this salad. The name is sort of an accurate description. I saw this amazing Fall Panzanella salad on Susan Pridmore’s blog The Wimpy Vegetarian. I immediately knew I had to make it it just sounded so good, kale, butternut squash, bread, apples, onions. I fell in love, then I had lunch at Speedy Romeo’s, a fantastic restaurant in my neighborhood that makes the most amazing brick oven pizza in incrediblely creative ways. They also have some awesome salads, I ordered a kale, apple, pomegranate, goat cheese salad that rocked my world. I have to add that I went there with Patty Nguyen, she is an very talented photographer and has a beautiful blog of the same name that I have been following for several years now. This is not the first time we met, whenever Patty comes to NYC we get together. I had the pleasure of meeting her family this time and we had a wonderful time.

Pizza with Patty and family at Speedy Romeo’s Brooklyn photo by Patty Nguyen

Back to the salad as I explained Susan’s Fall Panzanella grabbed me and then the salad at the restaurant was incredible, they have similar flavor profiles. I need to eat more salad, but for me it has to be super flavorful and very interesting. Lettuce and tomato are great (on a BLT) but not that interesting. I decided to take both salads and take a little from each, add my own touch and see how it comes out. It had to have kale that was a must, I wanted it to be seasonal so I added butternut squash that was roasted in the oven, apples, some toasted pumpkin seeds and pine nuts and grated aged Asiago cheese. I used Susan salad dressing which is made with apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and apple. I massaged the kale for a long time, a good 15 minutes I wanted it to be really relaxed, 10 minutes with a little olive oil and another 5 minutes with dressing, added chopped apple, butternut squash,nuts, seeds and grated cheese, another splash of dressing, season and voila, a delicious, nutritious fresh salad, bursting with flavor.

Fall Harvest Salad

1 head green curly kale cleaned, leaves torn from stems and chopped chiffonade

2 apples cleaned, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups cubed butternut squash

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds toasted

1/2 cup pine nuts toasted

approximately 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese

Pre heat oven to 375 degree’s. Place butternut squash pieces on sheet pan lined with parchment, drizzle with olive oil and toss to make sure every piece is covered in oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or unti squash is tender and lightly browned.

Remove the squash and set aside, place the pumpkin seeds and pine nuts on the same piece of parchment and toast in the oven for about 15 minutes watching carefully so they do not burn. Remove nuts and set aside.

Grate cheese and set aside.

Place chiffonade kale in large salad bowl, drizzle on a little olive oil and massage the kale really well, I worked on it for about 10 minutes. Add some of the dressing and massage another 5 minutes. Cut the apple into bite size pieces and toss into the kale, add the squash, nuts and seeds, toss to combine, add the grated cheese, season with salt and pepper, add more dressing if you like (I did). You can serve immediately but this salad keeps really well in the refrigerator for hours so it can be made ahead of time.

Dressing- Apple Vinaigrette

Recipe by Susan Pridmore- The Wimpy Vegetarian

1/2 apple peeled, seeded and diced

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tbs maple syrup

3-4 tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Mash the apple in a small food processor, if you don’t have a small processor heat in the microwave for about a minute and mash using a mortar and pestle. Whisk mashed apple into the vinegar, salt, maple syrup and olive oil.

Oct 20

114 Comments

Halloween/Samhain And A Triple Layer Apple Cake

Decorating my mantle for Halloween

I love Halloween/ Samhain, it’s huge in my neighborhood. Children walk en masse trick or treating, there are theatrical productions, music like the Dead Zombie Band playing on the street. Everyone dresses in costume here and has a wonderful time. We have a doggie costume contest called The Great Pupkin at Fort Greene Park (I miss dressing the pugs), people decorate their homes. I kid you not when I say Halloween is huge in Clinton Hill see this article in the Daily News.

My stoop

All month horror films (mostly not very good ones) are shown on TV, some of you who know me are aware that I am a fan of horror films, always have been and I look forward to seeing some of my favorites on Halloween. Two I love!

Mia Farrow-Rosemary’s Baby-Polanski is genius

Bela Lugosi Dracula

To celebrate the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter or the dark months, the literal and original meaning of Samhain, I made an apple cake. I know, there is a plethora of apple recipes out there right now along with pumpkin but thats ok, right, it’s apple and pumpkin season. This cake has been in my repertoire for years, it is the simplest and best apple layer cake recipe I have found. It is from Martha Stewart. The cake is shown with a brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream (yum) but I am making a cream cheese frosting. I have made this cake many times and vary the way I use the apples. Sometimes I follow directions grating 2 and dicing 2, sometimes I make applesauce from all 4 apples or at times I will grate all 4. For this cake I made applesauce which is my favorite way of prepping the apples for this cake. It is nicely spiced, moist and has a wonderful texture, I love it with either the Brown Sugar Buttercream or Cream Cheese Frosting any way you make it it is a wonderful way to celebrate apple season.

Apple cake

Three Layer Apple Cake

Martha Stewarts Everyday Food with John Baricelli

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

4 apples peeled and coursely grated (or you can grate 2 and dice 2) If you make applesauce the yeild is about 1 1/2 cups from 4 apples)

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350 degree’s. Butter 3 8 inch round cake pans place parchment round in each butter again and dust with flour.

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger and salt. In large bowl whisk butter, sugar and eggs until well combined, fold in the grated apples. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined Divide batter among the prepared pans.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 20 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack. Cool complettely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature

8 oz unsalted butter softened to room temperature

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tbs half and half or whole milk

3-4 cup confectioners sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy and completely incorporated, add 2 cups of the confectioners sugar the vanilla and 2 tbs of the milk or half and half and beat. Add another cup of confectioners sugar and more milk continue to beat adding sugar and milk as needed until it reaches spreading consistency.