Archive | apple RSS feed for this section

Charoset: A Passover Delight

9 Apr

Happy Passover everyone. Have you made Matzo Lasagna yet this year? There are still 5 more days left of the holiday, so get your cheese on! And if you have a hankering for dessert, try my Kiss n’ Swirl meringues (just use Kosher for Passover vanilla, or omit it altogether).

I love Passover because the food is so unique and holds so much meaning and tradition. Charoset comes from the Hebrew word for clay, and is meant to symbolize the mud which the Israelite’s used to hold the bricks together when they were enslaved in ancient Egypt. You can read more about the story of Passover here.

Charoset is made from grated apples, nuts, dried fruit, and sweet wine…all whizzed up in the food processor or blender (or by hand if you are feeling rustic). I find Charoset utterly delicious, so sweet and full of my favorite ingredients. I like to use dried figs and raisins, but in the past I have also used dried apricots/dates/prunes. Fuji apples are my go-to because they are so crisp and sweet. And the wine has to be Manischewitz Concord Grape. People either love Manischewitz wine or they hate it. I can’t seem to get enough of the sweet stuff.

Charoset

Makes about 5 cups

*Note: you do not have to follow these measurements exactly. I just add ingredients to my liking, using these ratios as a guide. You can use whatever nuts/dried fruit/apples/wine/spices you like. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup dried figs, I like to use Turkish figs

1/2 cup raisins

3 fuji apples

1 cup Manischewitz wine (you can use grape juice or another sweet red wine)

2-3 tablespoons cinnamon

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Method:

In a blender or food processor (I used a blender because that is all I have), pulse the nuts until roughly chopped. Empty the nuts into a large bowl. Now place the dried fruit in the blender. Pulse until chopped and add to the bowl with the nuts.

Chop the apples by hand, halve them, quarter them, and chop each quarter into about 4 or 5 small chunks. Add the apples (you may have to add one at a time if using a blender) and wine to the blender and pulse just until roughly chopped into small pieces. Add the apples to the bowl with the nuts and dried fruit. Add the spices and stir everything together by hand. Taste and add more wine or spices as needed.

Let the charoset sit for a few hours in the fridge to let the flavors develop. Enjoy with matzo and horseradish, or mix it into yogurt.

Tags: , , , , ,

Baked Oatmeal, With Apples and Bananas

26 Oct

I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas
I like eat eat eat epples and benenes 
I like to ite ite ite ipples and bininis

I like to ote ote ote oplles and bononos
I like to ute ute ute upples and bununus

Mornin’ ladies and gents. I have oatmeal for you today. Baked oatmeal. Baked oatmeal that is so good I want to eat it for my breakfast, my mid-afternoon snack, and my dessert.

I recently purchased Heidi Swanson’s cookbook Super Natural Everyday. She has beautiful photos and healthy recipes using all of the ingredients that I want in my food. I want to be her. I want to make every recipe in the book. I am inspired.

This baked oatmeal has bananas, apples, and dried apricots. Baking everything together with milk and maple syrup gives the oats a sweet hearty taste. I like eating  mine with vanilla soy milk poured over the top and a little nob of peanut butter. What a cozy way to start the morning now that the weather has started cooling off here in New York.

As per usual, you can use any seasonal fruit and nut that you prefer in here, you can add extra spices like nutmeg and ginger, and feel free to throw in a few flaxseeds and some wheat germ for more oomph. You can even make it vegan by using non-dairy milk and adding ground flaxseeds instead of an egg. I only used about half of the amount of butter that the recipe calls for; you can omit it altogether or use Earth Balance buttery sticks.

Throughout her book, Heidi provides measurements in grams and ounces. After purchasing a food scale a few months ago, I am obsessed with measuring my flour, sugar, etc. in grams (155 g=1 cup of flour; 200 g=1 cup sugar…). Especially if you are an avid baker, I highly recommend you invest in a nice scale. You will use it all the time and it is less messy than using cup measures.

Happy Breakfast, Happy Fall, Happy Eating.

Baked Oatmeal

from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Everyday

serves 6 generously or 12 as part of a larger brunch spread

Ingredients:

2 cups/ 7 oz/ 200 g rolled oats

1/2 cup/ 2 oz/ 60 g walnut pieces, chopped

1/3 cup/ 2 oz/ 60 g maple syrup (or natural cane sugar)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

2 cups/ 475 ml milk

1 large egg

1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups/ 6.5 oz/ 185 g berries or chopped apples or dried fruit such as golden raisins or apricots

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter the inside of an 8-inch/ 20 cm square baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the oats, half the walnuts, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt (NOTE: if you are using sugar instead of maple syrup, add it here).

In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup (if using), the milk, egg, half of the butter, and the vanilla.

Arrange the bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the berries/apples/dried fruit over the top. Cover the fruit with the dry oat mixture. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Gently give the baking dish a couple of thwacks on the counter-top to make sure the milk moves through the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and remaining walnuts across the top.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the remaining melted butter on top and serve. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar or drizzle with maple syrup if you want it a bit sweeter. Or, pour some more milk (I like vanilla soy milk) over an individual portion and enjoy with a spoonful of peanut butter.

Dinner Party For Rosh Hashanah

3 Oct

An excuse to have friends over for dinner and to cook a hearty Jewish meal… The menu:

  • Round Challah Bread, Roasted Garlic
  • Apples Dipped in Honey (Catskill Provision Honey)
  • Chicken with Figs
  • Israeli Couscous with Pomegranate Seeds, Feta, Chickpeas, Cucumber, Radishes, and more
  • Quick Asparagus and Green Bean Saute
  • Wine
  • Root

A small glimpse of the meal:

Pretty Pretty Blue Hydrangeas

Round Challah Bread; Apple Walnut Cake

Couscous Salad in the Making…(pre-couscous)

Flowers, Apples & Honey, Couscous Salad

Kosher Chicken #1 in the Pyrex, Before Baking

Kosher Chicken #2 in Cast-Iron, After Baking

Quick Green Bean Saute

Dinner is Served, Come & Get It

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For…Honey Ice Cream!

Rugelach, Homemade Jewish Cookies…you can’t just eat one

And there you have it. Just a small taste of the lovely meal that was enjoyed by many.

Everything Muffins

18 Jul

I eat a bowl of cereal most days for breakfast. I usually like to mix together at least two kinds of cereal because it gives my mouth a bit more excitement.

Some days I go for oatmeal (my fav. oatmeal combo is banana, peanut butter, and dates). Sometimes on the weekend I will have eggs or French toast or whip up a Dutch Baby if I’m in the mood.

But most days I eat cereal.

I often feel like I need to branch out and eat different easy-to-prepare breakfasts:

-cottage cheese on top of toast with sliced fruit and honey

–yogurt parfaits

-frozen waffle, toasted, with peanut butter and honey

-banana “shake” (blend up 1-2 frozen bananas with milk and/or yogurt)

…

This morning (after finishing my bowl of cereal) I decided to bake an alternative breakfast item to add to my repertoire. It is a variation on the well-known “Morning Glory Muffin” except, well, I had no carrots and I had no shredded coconut. Alas, I improvised and used up some miscellaneous ingredients that I had handy–an apple, raisins, walnuts, dates, candied ginger, flaxseed, wheat germ…

I call these “Everything Muffins” because you really can put everything and anything you feel like in them. Try shredded zucchini, or chocolate chunks, or oats, or Raisin Bran, or use fresh grated ginger, add some peanut butter, pumpkin seeds and cranberries, and instead of an apple use some fresh berries.

These muffins baked up to look and taste quite similar to the fresh apple coffee cake that I made a few months ago.

I used to have a job where I had to get up very early in the morning. Now I begin work at 4 pm and I no longer have to rush out of the house before a proper breakfast hour. But I do need a mid-work snack, and these are the perfect on-the-go energy boost that I need to help me get through my shift (mind you, I am already surrounded by food and pastries at work, but it is nice to bring my own snack than nibble constantly at work).

Everything Muffins

aka I have been eating way too much cereal and it is time to change things up…

loosely adapted from Marcigilbert.com

2 eggs

2/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour (I used AP, you can use whole wheat pastry flour if you like)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 apple, peeled cored and diced

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. dates, pitted and chopped

2 T. chopped candied (crystallized) ginger

2 T. wheat germ

2 T. flaxseed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk your eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Chop up your apples, nuts, dried fruit and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients (flour through salt). Make a little well in the center of your dry ingredients and add your wet ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until combined. Add in your apples, nuts, raisins, dates, ginger, wheat germ, flaxseed.

Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, drop into lightly sprayed or oiled muffin tins (fill each tin about 3/4 of the way). Sprinkle with a touch of sugar. Bake for about 22-25 minutes.

Serve warmed with coffee, jam, peanut butter, yogurt, fruit, etc. Or take it on-the-go when you are rushing to go to work or school. Instant energy!

Oooo Oooo by the way, my absolute FAVORITE morning glory muffin to date has definitely got to be from Venus Restaurant in Berkeley. You must go!

Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

4 Jun

I know, I know, the summer is here and I should be cranking out recipes with berries and cherries and rhubarb and the beginnings of stone fruit. Trust me, I’m working on it. I found the most luscious and sweet and plump strawberries the other day. I have been intending to make something with them-sorbet, a strawberry rhubarb crumble, a cake…but alas, I have been too tempted to just eat them as is because they are irresistibly sweet.

This past week I have been filtering through all of the goods that I left at my parent’s house over the years to sit in the dust. I have clothes from when I was a young girl, food magazines galore, old school papers, books, CDs, a boom box… As I sat down with my pile of old recipes from various magazines, online sites, and old cooking classes, I stumbled upon a recipe that I treasure and hold very dearly.

I made this recipe for Fresh Apple Coffee Cake at a “grandmother workshop” cooking class about three and a half years ago. It was taught by Pastry Chef Siew Chinn-Chin from Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Below is a short article I wrote about the class and my time spent working in the kitchens of Chez Panisse. I wrote this for the Bay Area Dietetic Association Newsletter the summer after my freshman year of college. This is really when I began to delve into the restaurant world…:

My Delicious Summer

        Three dollars?! I could not believe it! These classes are usually seventy–five dollars, at least! Just as I was preparing to take my finals before summer break, I had the opportunity to attend a quickbread workshop taught by Chez Panisse pastry cook Siew-Chinn Chin. After explaining my interest in good, nutritious food to the chefs and instructors, I wrote down contact information and was able to join the rest of the Chez Panisse pastry staff the following week to stage. I could not wait to stage, except I was not entirely clear what “stage” meant. After checking with my sources (google, to be exact), I found out that the word “stage” is in fact pronounced “stAHj” and refers to an apprenticeship whereby one goes into the restaurant kitchen to expose him/herself to the way things run.

        On the day of my stage I came prepared with my non-skid shoes, black pants, pen, sharpie, and notebook in hand, not to mention a series of nervous yet excited butterflies fluttering inside my stomach. From the moment I walked in and put on a chef coat and apron, I was busy, busy, busy. After a morning of baking and counting “ossi dei morti” and “langues de chat” cookies, slicing and sorting fresh cherries, hulling strawberries with a “bird peak” knife, and washing and trimming fig leaves, it was time for tasters! Yes, around eleven fifteen a.m. I stood, spoons in hand, with the pastry chef, sous chef, pastry cook, and intern, ready to taste every single dessert before serving it to the café. We took tiny tastes of bittersweet chocolate pave with a hazelnut cream, rhubarb tart, meyer lemon ice cream and sorbet, and pavlova, scrutinizing every detail and noting the quick changes that needed to take place before serving. Then, around twelve thirty, I had the most gourmet lunch I had eaten in ages, consisting of whatever leftovers were lying around. Did I mention that I packed a lunch? Silly me, I should have known that I would be feasting on Chez Panisse ravioli, salad, fish, white bean soup, and crème fraiche ice cream while having causal conversation with the staff.

        After lunch, a man brought in freshly picked roses from his garden, and since they were grown without pesticides, the cooks and I whipped up an egg white wash to brush onto the petals and then we dipped them in sugar to serve with a meringue. I could go on and on about my day there, but there is one more aspect that I really want to applaud Chez Panisse for: using fresh ingredients and trying to reduce waste. So many restaurants have microwaves lining the kitchen and huge units for storing frozen foods. At Chez Panisse, however, it is unthinkable to throw away an orange peel. Instead, it would be sliced thinly and candied. Delicioso! I have been told that restaurant kitchens are brutal war zones and that I am too “beautiful” to work in a kitchen. I have been told that I should go on television and tell people that broccoli is good for them, and I have been told that I will not make a lot of money as a chef and/or dietitian. Nonetheless, my summer of staging and taking cooking classes confirmed that I do want to work in the industry even more than I did before, and that I want to live and breathe food and the culture around it.

Wow. This makes me feel so nostalgic. Next week I move to New York City to embark on a new journey of restaurant-ing and cooking and surrounding myself with lovely food people. Looking back, I see how much I have grown and how much more I have to learn. From that summer on, I have not stopped making food and restaurant cooking a huge part of my life. I remember how ecstatic I was to be working at this famous restaurant, even though I spent most of the day prepping fruit. Just being in an environment like that was out of this world.

I made this Fresh Apple Coffee Cake at the grandmother quickbread workshop. It is totally rustic and will make you fall in love. The apples bake up sweet and almost caramelize in the pan. The nuts add a rich comforting flavor. And the cinnamon and nutmeg make the whole cake pop. This recipe is meant for everyone, for novice cooks and for experienced cooks and for non-cooks who just like to eat well. It is quite straightforward. And I love the method of cracking an egg over the apples and then adding the sugar and butter and finally the dried ingredients. The method just adds to the easy rustic vibe of the cake.

Fresh Apple Coffee Cake (9 servings)

recipe from Siew Chinn

Flour                1 C

Salt                   1 t

Baking Soda   1 t

Cinnamon       1 t

Nutmeg           1 t

Apple               2 C (peeled, cored, and diced)

Egg                   1

Butter              1/4 C (melted)

Sugar              1 C

Nut                  1/2 C (chopped and lightly toasted-walnut, pecan etc)

Line an 8 inch baking pan and set oven at 350 F (NOTE: If you are using a glass baking pan, raise the temperature by 25 degrees. If you are using a black bottom pan, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees).

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg and set aside. Place apple in a medium bowl, break egg over apples, add melted butter, sugar, and nuts and mix thoroughly. Stir dry mixture into apple mixture just until flour is moist. Spread in the greased pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →