Fig and Cheese Puffs

I am cooking Thanksgiving with a few dietary restrictions in mind this year, so I wanted to use it as an opportunity to challenge myself with more creative appetizers. After a browse through my favorite food magazines and websites, I had a pretty good idea of the entire menu but still needed one appetizer that would offset a rich, cheese dish without using meat or sending everyone into a pre-dinner food coma. The answer?: Puff Pastry.

New recipes for puff pastry wrapped bits of food are everywhere these days and I loved the idea of a pre-dinner carb that wouldn't ruin anyone's appetite. Wandering the aisles of Whole Foods (yes, I do that a lot), I made an obligatory pilgrimage to the cheese section, where I found an amazing, aged, French goat cheese. I knew I had to do something with it and inspiration struck as I grabbed my puff pastry from the frozen section (normally, I would make this myself but on Thanksgiving, I'm happy to use a pre-made).To offset the pungent cheese, I picked up some dried figs.

To start, let the frozen puff pastry thaw to room temperature and chop the dried figs into small segments - no larger than an inch wide. Set aside when done.

 

Once the puff pastry has thawed, roll it out on a non-stick or lightly floured surface (I used a non-stick, baking pad). *The pastry can either be cut into squares - 2x2 inches, or into circles - about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. I did two test batches, using circles for one and squares for the other and the circle-cut dough turned out better in my opinion. Pre-heat the oven to 330 degrees Fahrenheit at this point.

 

 Next, grab your cheese from the fridge and cut into small cubes, about 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches. Place one cube in the center of the dough, top with 3-4 bits of fig, and drizzle with honey. Fold the dough up, around the ingredients by slightly stretching out four corners of the circle to overlap each other atop the figs, using a dab of water to moisten and seal the folds (*stop to do this every few puffs and thoroughly dry your hands before you handle the rest of the dough or it will stick to your fingers).

  

  

Place the sealed puffs in a lightly greased, standard muffin tin, brush with an egg wash (one beaten egg lasted for three trays worth of these) and bake for 16 minutes.

Once done, place the pastry puffs on a sheet of parchment paper, atop a cooling rack for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:

- 2 rounds Puff Pastry Dough
- 1 1/2 rounds cheese (preferably an aged goat cheese but any young, pungent cheese will work)
- 6-7 dried figs (dried dates can also be used)
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 egg

- 1 muffin tin
- pastry brush
- 1 sheet parchment paper
- 1 cooling rack (optional)

*Makes 36

Raspberry Jam Brownies

During the holidays, Nestle used to put out a raspberry-filled chocolate chip that went into at least half of my baked goods. I was feeling a bit nostalgic for these last week and thought I would try to recreate the chocolate-covered raspberry feel, minus the loads of sugar and food coloring that made up the fake raspberry taste. I also happened to want brownies at the time, so my shopping list read as follows: "chocolate, eggs, and???"

The easiest way to get the raspberry flavor would be to add in the actual fruit but raspberries are mostly water and would prove either too mushy or too dried out by the end of the baking process. The next best thing, I thought, would be raspberries boiled down to a syrup-like consistency I could add in the way you would use caramel to create a turtle brownie. This led me to the jam aisle, where I went straight for the St. Dalfour brand because it's a lifelong favorite and they have one of the best recipes for jam out there - very basic, very true to the original flavor, and as little sugar as possible. Armed with the Four Fruit flavor (I figured the mix of my favorite fruits would add a bit more heft to the final taste), I grabbed some extra semisweet Guittard and headed home.

 

The basic recipe for brownies is: eggs, butter, cocoa powder or melted chocolate, AP flour, vanilla, granulated sugar, and a bit of salt. Beyond that, it's a matter of figuring out what else you want to go into the recipe and futzing around with the ratio of ingredients to compensate.

To start, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and beat the eggs until combined in a large mixing bowl (this is another one-bowl recipe - yay!). Add the granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, and melted butter, mixing until combined as well. Next, add in the cocoa powder and flour, introducing the cocoa first and stirring carefully until it is assimilated before adding the flour (stirring to quickly will result in a cloud of powder in your face). Finally, add in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 pan (glass or metal).

  

This is where we get creative. To control the application of jam to the batter, I fashioned a quick pastry bag out of a ziploc bag. The easiest way to do this is to roll the top of the bag over, so it stands up on its own and keeps the top of the bag from getting covered in jam. Next, spoon the jam (I used the entire jar) into the bag and seal shut.

 

Once the bag is ready, hold it so that the jam is at one corner of the bag, and cut a small opening in the corner (no more than 1/2 inch wide).

 

 

 At this point, you can start adding the jam to the brownie batter, tracing a smooth S-curve from one side of the pan to the other, working your way down the dish. *I used a 'natural' jam that had seeds in it, so the opening in the ziploc bag did clog at times; go slowly and don't worry if this happens or you get too much jam in one spot, we're going to fix that in the next step.

You should now have a trail of jam snaking through the brownie batter. Drag a sharp knife through the batter, lengthwise, so the jam trails after it, forming an arrow-like pattern in the batter. *You can also do a swirly patter or go back through with the knife to more evenly distribute the jam if you got too much in one area.

Place the pan in the oven, on the middle rack, and turn the oven from pre-heat to bake. Let bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan at 25-30 minutes. Once done, a knife inserted into the brownies, should come out clean. Let cool completely, cut into squares, and serve.

The resulting brownie is just dark and salty enough to offset the undercurrent of fruit jam and does taste almost exactly like a chocolate covered raspberry. These taste even better day two, so let them set for 10-12 hours in a sealed container if you can hold off on eating the whole pan. As I prefer a richer brownie, I would use this batter even without the inclusion of jam. It's all about experimentation, so feel free to make up your own recipe.

Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

- 3/4 c flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 c cocoa powder
- 1 3/4 c semisweet chocolate
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp butter
- 10 0z jam - preferably a natural or organic type

- 1 13 x 9 pan (glass or metal - the latter will bake faster so keep an eye on it)
- 1 ziploc or pastry bag
 

Baking Time:

- 325 degrees
- 50 min

 

One-Pot-Wonder Tabouleh Bread

I have been fascinated by bread since I picked up my first .75 centime baguette, piping hot from my neighborhood boulangerie in Paris at age 19. I've followed my nose through markets in Tuscany to find the fresh baked focaccia, boiled a potato until I could shove it through a sieve to bake a braided Russian sweetbread, and learned the hard way that too many serrano peppers make even the tastiest jalapeno cheese bread inedible. So when I saw Parsley, Sage & Sweet's One Pot Tabouleh Bread, it was too beautifully simple to turn down.

This recipe needs only one thing: a 3 quart, non-stick pot. If you don't have this, you can try making the bread in a different pan but the consistency and crust will not be the same. Once you have your pot, it really is a one bowl (and many prep dishes) job.

First, place bulgur wheat in boiling water, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 20 minutes while the wheat cooks. In the meantime, you can chop the parsley and mint, thinly slice the green onions, mince the garlic, and zest one, whole lemon. Once the wheat has absorbed most/all of the water, strain it into a prep bowl and pour the tepid water into the pot, adding salt, yeast, and flour. As you mix this up, stir in the wheat, parsley, mint, green onions, and lemon zest (my batter was too dry, so I added an extra 1/3 c water). 

Cover the dough once mixed and place in a warm, dry corner of the kitchen to rise for 60-90 minutes. Stir the dough back down at 90 minutes, cover tightly, and place in the fridge to chill for 10-14 hours. A night and day later (I made mine before bed and baked it the next night), pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, take the dough out of the fridge, and decorate with parsley and mint leaves, a few chives, and some grape tomatoes (you can leave them whole or cut them in half if they're on the larger side). Switch your oven to bake and place the pot in to bake for 30-40 minutes (my oven runs a bit cold, so it took 45 min).

Isn't it beautiful? I could barely bring myself to slice it up.

Once done, let cool before you invert it and it should slide right out of the pot. Flip onto your serving dish and serve with hummus, olive oil and salt, or mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil.

 

As you can see, the consistency is dense and packed with flavor. My favorite way to serve this is to pan fry a slice in olive oil (only one side - lightly warm the other side but it should still be soft) for a minute or two and serve with olive oil and extra grape tomatoes. I may even freeze a bit to be cubed, roasted, and served with a ripe cheese for Thanksgiving.

 

Ingredients:

- 2 1/4 c tepid water
- 3-4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 pacquet Active Dry Yeast - .25 oz
- 4 c All Purpose Flour
- 1/3 c bulgur wheat (fine to medium grain)
- 1/3 c boiling or very hot water
- large handful parsley leaves, chopped
- small to medium handful mint leaves, chopped
- 4 green onions, sliced thinly
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

- 1 tsp tasting salt (think Maldon's)
- grape tomatoes - cut in half or left whole if smaller
- 3 or 4 chives and extra parsley and mint for topping

Pumpkin Ravioli With Parnsips & Brown Buttered Sage

My first experience with pumpkin-filled pasta stretches back to 6 months in Tuscany as an undergrad, studying languages and (of course) food. My cooking class was taught by an English expat architect who, I swear, knew how to make pasta, pair wines, and pick a stellar olive oil on par with any Italian nonna. 

I'll never forget standing in her kitchen, with a handful of students, kneading squid ink, pesto, and pumpkin into various pasta doughs, passing it through the press over and over, and cutting it into delicate squares and shapes to be stuffed with the ingredients that lay scattered around the counter in little, sliver prep bowls. It was a surprising amount of work for such a small piece of food but when I tasted the pumpkin stuffed ravioli in a walnut cream sauce at the end of an evening's hard work, I was smitten.

  

You can understand how, every time I see pumpkin-filled ravioli, I buy as many boxes as I can carry and hoard them in the freezer like we're expecting an apocalypse (yes, my apocalypse would be survived with pumpkin ravioli). My favorite, readily available version, is Trader Joe's Honey Pumpkin Ravioli. The first time I came home with these, I realized that I had a problem; I only knew how to a cook a walnut cream sauce, which is too heavy for a warm, late September. 

So what DO you do with pumpkin ravioli otherwise? My go-to answer came from a former boss/cook who's reply was, "brown buttered sage of course." I throw in some parsnips to up the veggie count and we have ourselves a viable, non-food coma inducing recpie! 

Parsnip #1 peeled and cubed

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, place about half a pot of water on boil, and add in a tsp of kosher salt and a tbsp of olive oil to help the pasta not stick to itself or the pan. Add the pasta to the water once it is boiling. While the pasta cooks (this process takes 7-8 minutes, depending on the pasta), turn your attention to the parsnips. A good one will have a firm, white peel and might be a bit woody at the core; avoid parsnips with puffy or slightly soft peels. Using a vegetable peeler or pairing knife, peel each parsnip and cut into cubes (size doesn't matter much, so long as you are consistent or the pieces won't cook evenly).  

Spiced and roasted parsnips

Place the cut up parsnips on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet, add 1 1/2 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt,  1 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp garlic, 1 tsp cinnamon, and  1/4 tsp nutmeg, tossing until the cubes are evenly coated. Spread evenly on the pan and place in the oven (turning it from 'pre-heat' to 'bake') for 20-40 minutes. Parsnips are done when tender and easily pierced with a fork or knife.

*About the time you put these in the oven, your pasta should be finishing up, so go ahead and check it (when a stuffed pasta shell is cooked, it will float to the top of the pan). When done, remove the pasta from heat, strain, and set aside.

Next, break out the sage, butter, and place 3 tbsp butter in a saucepan on the stove, using a medium-high heat to melt and brown it. As the butter melts, you'll start to notice it turning a golden brown color around the edges, this means that it's time to add in the sage. When adding the sage, tear it by hand. Cutting sage with a knife allows oxidization and turns the cut edges black. Toss it into the butter, stir, and lower the heat as soon as the sage has crisped up (about 1 minute). *Sage can release some amazing flavors when prepared correctly but if burned, it turns bitter, so watch out for any pieces turning black as they fry and remove from heat immediately if this happens.

When the butter is browned and the sage is fried, lower the heat to medium-low, toss in the roasted parsnips, and gently, mix in the pumpkin ravioli. Voila, a perfect blend of sweet and savory to be served up on cold nights. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

- 1 package pumpkin ravioli

- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tsp salt

- 2-3 parsnips

- 1tsp pepper

- 1 tbsp garlic

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp nutmeg

- 3 tbsp unsalted butter

- 1 large handful (or packet) of sage, hand torn

East Harlem Cafe

Living on the edge of Spanish Harlem, I often find myself lamenting the lack of local spots for drinks, brunch, and just hanging out. However, I am discovering of late that I am much mistaken. The East Harlem Cafe is one of those cute little places that stares you in the face as you march off to work every day - you see it but rush past. Fortunately for me, I have a friend who is keyed in to these little spots and raved about the Cafe until I finally stopped in for a coffee....and kept going back.

The Cafe is a perfect mix of great coffee and food, with a homegrown charm you don't see very often anymore. The art is all local, celebrating the area, and a rack of books in the corner just begs you to pick one up and settle into the couch with a cup of coffee. We sat down for brunch this past Sunday, around noon and watched a steady stream of people come and go for the next two hours. It's the perfect balance of to-go coffees and pastries and those of us who come to hang out; always busy but there's usually an open seat to be had (no waiting in line for a table at brunch!).

Not only do they make a killer mocha latte, they also have a wide range of delicious pastries, make a great BLT, Waldorf Salad, and the BEST wholewheat pancakes i've ever had. This is a big deal because I don't like wholewheat pancakes, being a dedicated member of the buttermilk camp. Yesterday, I was feeling something different and their pancakes get rave reviews, so I went for it with a simple order of plain, wholewheat pancakes.  

The result was an amazingly healthy feeling, filling, and delicious stack of three, fluffy cakes, topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar, and strawberries. 

Banana-Pecan Wholewheat stack - gorgeous no?

The Cafe also offers banana-pecan pancakes, which my friend ordered and declared fantastic.

Go check it out!

Sweet Potato Chili - Vegetarian, Vegan, & Delicious

After making the Twice-Baked Mexican Sweet Potatoes, I happened to have a few potatoes left over and no ideas for what to do with them. I remembered seeing a chili involving sweet potatoes but all of the recipes I knew of called for ground beef or turkey and were generally too heavy for what I wanted. Turning to Google, I happened to stumble upon this fabulous recipe that is not only vegetarian but vegan as well! For those of us with plenty of friends with special dietary needs, this is a godsend and I spent the better part of yesterday raving about it to anyone who would listen.

First, scrub and peel the sweet potao(es) (mine look odd because I geeked out and used my apple peeler again). Cut into cubes and place in a 4-6 quart crock pot, dutch oven, or large stockpot. Then cut up and add in two bell peppers (the recipe uses one green and one red but I used 1 1/2 green), along with one chopped up red onion (1 medium or 2 small). Add in 2 tablespoons olive oil, stir to coat evenly, and cook covered. For a crock pot, use high heat, using medium-high heat for the dutch oven and/or stockpot. Stir occasionally until the onions start turning translucent.

 

 Once the onions start to turn, put the heat on low (crock pot) or medium-low (dutch oven or stockpot) and add the minced garlic, spices: chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt and pepper, and canned ingredients: diced tomatoes, beans, and broth. *The recipe calls for cayenne pepper as well but I prefer a sweeter chili and left it out. I also used canned, diced tomatoes with garlic, in addition to the minced garlic cloves and it didn't overpower the dish at all.

Spice lineup

One of my favorite things about this recipe is the use of cocoa powder!

Spiced and waiting for the canned goods

 Once you have added everything into your chosen cooking device, cover and cook on high for 45 minutes - 2 hours. *Using a crock-pot, I had a few additional cooking options, so I stretched the process out to fit my schedule - simmering the dish all night (6 hours), turning it on high while I got ready in the morning (1 hour), turning it off, and finishing it up on high for 2 more hours that night. I could have left it on high to begin with and been done in 2 hours but I didn't feel like staying up.

No matter how you cook it, once the sweet potatoes are soft and the liquid has reduced down slightly to a more chili-like consistency, it is done. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, scallions, and perhaps some shredded cheese.

Lessons learned: I used two potatoes instead of one and the recipe filled a whole 5 quart crock pot, so halve it if you don't have room to freeze the extra or a house full of hungry people to feed. Normally, I am the person who hovers over a dish, spicing and re-spicing it until I am satisfied but I only spiced this one as everything went in to the pot. Over 6 hours later, it was perfect, without one, single alteration. Don't worry, this is a dish you CAN'T mess up.

Ingredients:

- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced, or 1 heaping tablespoon of minced garlic
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less, depending on how spicy you like your chili)
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ground sea salt and black pepper
- 28-ounces canned diced tomatoes, including the liquid*
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (also known as Cannellini if you have a can of those on hand)
- 2 c OR one 14 oz. can vegetable broth

Apple Crumble

Another way to use up a surplus of apples from your annual apple picking trip is to make a deliciously easy apple crumble. I used this recipe for a basis and my handy apple peeler for all of the hard work.

 

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, have a large bowl of 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (1-2 lemons) on hand, and get your apple peeler (or someone with a steady hand and good pairing knife) ready, and peel, core, and cut up 6 apples (the recipe calls for 8 cups chopped and the ratio is 1c=1apple but the apples I used were on the larger side). As per my explanation of why lemon juice is important here, immediately coat your apples in lemon juice once cut up or they will turn brown.

 

Once the apples are insulated in the lemon juice, place them in a large mixing bowl and add in the vanilla, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Mix together until the spices are combined and the apples are evenly coated. Doing this by hand is easiest. It's also very messy but I think that's part of the fun.

Spiced and ready to go

Thoroughly combined and ready to be put in the baking dish

Set the apple mixture aside and turn your attention to the crumble topping. Again, this is a one bowl job (love it when that happens): add in the remaining flour, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Combine and add in the butter by hand (you can also use a pastry cutter or two knives - crossing the blades in a scissor-like action, in a pinch), mixing until everything starts to stick together in clumps.

 

Grease a 13x9 baking pan (the original recipe uses a cast iron skillet but I made a bigger batch and put it in a baking pan, which worked well) with a tablespoon of butter and pour the apples into the baking dish. Top with the crumble mixture, sprinkling it evenly over the top, and place in the oven (make sure it is set to 'bake' not 'pre-heat'). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbling.

Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

Done!

 
Lessons learned: DO NOT pack the crumble on top of the apples. When the recipe says 'sprinkle,' it's not playing around. I made too much of the topping, so I packed it on and while it did form a nice crust, the top was a bit dry. In hind site, I would also have used more butter in the topping, so the consistency is moist but not wet. Even with those notes, this dish was a favorite dessert and will be served again, so don't worry about messing it up because you can't!

Ingredients:

- 8 c peeled, cored, and sliced apples
- 2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 c all-purpose flour

For the crumble topping:

- 1 c all-purpose flour
- 1 c old-fashioned oats
- 2/3 c brown sugar
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 12 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced