$12 Paella Cakes

Paella Cakes with Jersey Corn and Tomato Salad

Longtime readers (Hi, Mom!) may recall The $12 Empanada Incident, in which His Lordship’s finely-tuned sense of food value was grossly violated by a single, tiny empanada of spinach, artichoke and Manchego cheese. Inexplicably priced at $12, this item, which would more properly have been labeled an amuse-bouche, greatly impacted what was otherwise a very enjoyable meal with my family. As I predicted, “$12 empanada” has been our household’s benchmark for restaurant gouging ever since.

By that pricing logic, tonight’s dinner should be valued at least at $12, and if it did show up on Amada’s menu, where I think it would not be at all out of place, I’d wager it’d be closer to $20. This is particularly ironic given that it’s retooled leftovers of a pantry-clearing dish.

For dinner last night, I tried out Mark Bittman’s tomato paella, in my neverending quest for a vegetarian paella that’s actually worth the bother, not to mention my desire to make inroads on a nearly-full box of arborio. I’m not sure this is the Holy Grail, since it still didn’t have all I was looking for despite the use of lovely ripe in-season locally-grown Jersey tomatoes, artichoke hearts and twice the optional amount of saffron, but it was quite nice and used half the box of rice.

It also made a ton, and in an effort to stave off boredom, I thought of frying them up as cakes served over a salad of the remaining tomatoes and fresh corn. The rice being quite sticky on its own, it wouldn’t take much more than an egg or two to hold it together, but we also had a good-sized piece of Manchego, and when is cheese ever a bad idea?

Certainly not this time. The cakes were crisp and savory, yet still lighter than the paella alone thanks to the added freshness of the salad. I love it when the leftovers are better than the original, and I love it more now that I’m completely out of sherry vinegar.

I must render to His Lordship all the credit for the paella cakes, since the idea might have been mine but the flawless execution was all his. While he was mixing and frying these golden, crusty, priceless patties, I was mixing the salad and pureeing half a watermelon for the agua fresca/granita variations I’ll be putting up shortly.

Paella Cakes with Jersey Corn and Tomato Salad
Serves 4-5

3 cups leftover paella
1 1/2 cups shredded Manchego or similar cheese
2 large eggs
Salt and pepper
Olive oil (not extra-virgin) for pan-frying

4 ears of corn, microwaved or steamed until cooked but still crisp
2 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs (Penzeys Parisien Blend)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together thoroughly the paella, cheese and eggs, plus additional salt and pepper as desired. Using two large soup spoons, form spoonfuls of the mixture into ten large oval patties.

Cover the bottom of a skillet or frying pan generously with oil and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add five (or as many as will fit without crowding) of the patties and fry until dark golden, 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels or brown paper bags and sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with remaining patties.

Strip kernels from corn cobs and place in a large bowl. Core the tomatoes and cut into large dice, adding to the corn. Toss the corn and tomatoes with the oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper until well-coated. Taste and correct with more vinegar and seasonings as appropriate.

To serve, build a bed of the salad in a shallow bowl and place two paella cakes on top of each mound of corn and tomatoes.

Notes:

If I’d had fresh herbs, the salad would have been that much better.

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So Not Your Grandmother’s Oatmeal Cookie

Brown Butter Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

While driving home through a particularly nasty thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, I had a good long think about what I wanted to do for Sunday Night Cookie Blogging. I really wanted a simple cookie, without any chocolate after last week’s brownie blitz, and with a strong butterscotch flavor.

On getting home, I rummaged through the cupboards for more candidates in the pantry elimination, and, noticing the unopened tub of old-fashioned oats, remembered the recipe for crisp oatmeal cookies I’d been meaning to try from Cook’s Illustrated several months back. Digging the magazine out of the pile on top of the microwave, I was pleased to see that the coconut variation conveniently called for exactly the amount of sweetened coconut I had left. The decision practically made itself.

While the recipe sounded great, I didn’t think it would have quite the butterscotch depth I was craving, so I decided to really amp things up by browning the butter first. Because I also prefer smaller cookies, I cut the size of the cookies in half.

The resulting cookie not just met but exceeded all my expectations, and was wildly popular with the coworkers, who snarfed them all up well before lunchtime. It’s unassuming in appearance, but those humble little freckles pack a wallop of noisette intensity, and the texture is shatteringly crisp and light. It’s a very grown-up oatmeal cookie, elementally airy and earthy at the same time, and I’ll absolutely be making it again. Next time, I might make it even more sophisticated by trying the suggestion of sprinkling with flakes of Maldon salt or fleur de sel on top before baking.

Flecks of Toasty Buttery Goodness

In the win-win-win column, it also used up all my remaining coconut and half the oats, but the important thing is that these are spectacularly delicious.

Brown Butter Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
( Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated January/February 2008 )
Makes 5 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned, not instant or quick)
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and bring to a simmer. Lower heat as necessary to maintain a vigorous simmer and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter separates into a dark golden liquid layer and a deep brown layer of caramelized milk solids and gives off a nutty aroma. Be careful not to let the solids turn black.

Pour butter into a liquid measuring cup, making sure to get all the delicious brown solids out of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it solidifies.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until fluffy, scraping down the sides once. Beat in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape down again, return to low, and mix in the oats and coconut until uniformly incorporated. Cover the dough and chill until firm enough to roll into balls, at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons (I use a small scoop) and roll into balls. Place balls on sheet 2 inches apart and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness with your fingertips.

Bake until golden, 14-16 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool completely on the sheet. Once cool, store in airtight containers to maintain crispness.

Notes:

In case you’re nervous about browning butter and want to have an idea of what it should look like, here’s an expert’s take on it.

If you’re not a coconut fan, you could leave it out and increase the oatmeal to the 2 1/2 cups in the original plain version, although I still urge you to brown the butter.

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You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

So I log in to WordPress this evening to continue my compulsive way-after-the-fact proofreading and re-re-editing of the last couple of posts, as I do, and imagine my complete and utter shock at having been nominated for an Arte y Pico award!  Here I am, blathering into the ether under the assumption that no one who doesn’t already know me and/or hasn’t been personally bribed with my cookies even knows this thing exists, and food blogs are a dime a dozen anyway, but Camille, an actual trained pastry chef, thinks me worthy of an award!

I’m just… I’m all verklempt.

I’d like to thank Camille for nominating me, and WordPress for enabling those random links so that Camille could find me.  And I’d like to thank His Lordship, who puts up with the giant mess I leave in the sink every Sunday night, saves me from buying every kitchen gadget and cookbook in sight, and provides an endless supply of creative ideas. I can’t leave out the Monster (the puppy’s nickname, from her electronics-destroying infancy), who conveniently disposes of cookies I’ve left the brown sugar out of and my extra pizza crusts so I can save room for the cheesy parts.  My parents and my baby brother, for accepting and encouraging my weirdo food choices, and my grandmother, for teaching me that pretty much everything can be fixed and improved with half a pint of cream.  My brother-in-law, for giving me Williams-Sonoma gifts on my birthdays. My coworkers, who graciously consume my baked goods so I don’t have to polish them all off myself.  And, and PBS, for producing the food shows that got me started when I was just a kid, and the Food Network, for sucking so hard and giving me enough Celebrity Chefs I Hate to provide material for a lifetime, and Trader Joe’s, who helps me make the magic happen every week, and, um…. WOOOOO!  I just… WOOOOO! I can’t believe…. WOOOOO!  WOOOOOOO!

Yeah, I’m not fooling anyone with the Cuba Gooding Jr. act, am I?  I’ve never WOOOOO!ed in my life.  But seriously, I am deeply touched and grateful that Camille bestowed this on me.  In this age of everyone and their grandmother blogging, you do your thing and you hope someone’s listening, and it’s an incredible thrill to know that someone is.  Y muchisimas gracias a Eseya, por haber establecido este premio.

Now, the rules are:

1. Pick five blogs that you consider deserve the award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

There are a ton of unbelievably professional food blogs I turn to for inspiration and guidance that I could nominate, from 101Cookbooks to Serious Eats to the tragically retired Cupcake Bakeshop, but they’re all so big-league that it’d be a drop in the ocean to them.  Likewise Television Without Pity, which takes snark to a whole new and institutionalized level I can’t hope to reach.

I’ll do my best to come up with some more pragmatic choices, with one initial exception:

1. TBogg, who is totally big time now and could swat it away like a July mosquito, but I’m proud to say I knew him before he was quite that big time, and one of the proudest moments of my life was when one of my snippy little comments on the Salon boards was praised by the Master of Snark.
2. Pip in the City, who is a fabulous baker, a great writer, and an amazing photographer.  Her blog feels like visiting a second home, since she cooks what I grew up eating and speaks with love of the places I would have grown up in if my family hadn’t emigrated. She also has the second-cutest puppy in the whole world.
3. Brass Goggles, because I have all kinds of random obsessions, and steampunk is my latest one.  They (it’s now a collective effort) find the neatest examples and sources of this incredibly fun aesthetic, and present them in the most user-friendly way imaginable.  You may roll your eyes and think this is the nerdiest thing ever, but I guarantee you will find something on this site so beautiful it’ll make you go “Wow!”
4. Curious Goods, creator of the coolest stuff ever. The level of imagination and craftsmanship is unbelievable, and makes me wish I had unlimited funds to spend on commissioning everything I ever wanted to have as a geeky bookworm kid.
5. The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks, which I recently re-discovered.  Bethany is out there, fighting the good fight, every day.  This is not just a pet peeve of mine, people; this is a scourge of our times.  The only threat more clear and present than this is the misuse of “comprise”.

I’m also going to suggest a possible future contender. Rosella, whom I’ve known for years and have been begging nearly as long to write for a wider audience, just started her own gardening blog.  Knowing of her passion for this subject, her expertise, and her elegant and gracious writing style, I am delighted to see her finally establish a presence and am sure it’ll be a hit.  I can only hope that one or two tales of the Vegecidal Mr. Rosella also make their way into the blog.  Go, Rosella!

To get back to business, there’s really nothing of interest to report on the pantry-clearing front, since we just had pasta with the leftover sauce from making pizza this weekend.  The excitement should resume later this week, even if I do have to — razzafrazzit — work on Saturday.

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Sidewalk Table and Jacarandas Not Included

Your dentist is going to hate me.

This week’s Sunday sweets blogging was partly pantry-clearing and partly nostalgia-tripping.

For our anniversary last year, His Lordship and I took a greatly-postponed honeymoon trip to Argentina. The idea was to show him where I came from, visit my pasta-producing grandmother, and consume unseemly quantities of amazing — and amazingly cheap — local food products, particularly artisanal ice cream in my case and grass-fed beef in His Lordship’s case.

Regular breaks for beverages and a nibble at cafes during our outings were a daily feature of our life during the trip, because it’s a daily feature of life in Buenos Aires for everyone. There are at least two on every block, and in the busier areas it’s probably closer to half a dozen, all serving a million variations on coffee and a comprehensive assortment of light meals, pastries and snacks.

They’re open from morning, when you can start your day off right with cafe con leche and the standard tres medialunas, until the ungodly hours of the night, when you can stumble in for empanadas or sandwiches at the end of or as a break from your club-hopping rounds. No one will bat an eyelash at any time in between if you order one cup of coffee and then sit for two additional hours reading your paper or engaging in heated philosophical debate with your friends. Indeed, it’s quite likely the waiter will never return to see if you need something more anyway, since it’s expected that you’re there to sloth away a good chunk of time.

In short, Buenos Aires’s cafe culture makes Seattle’s vaunted caffeine scene look like a parvenu bastard second cousin. It’s fantastic, and I’ve been longing for that level of urbanity ever since. Which is why, when I was thinking of what to bake for Monday morning and staring at a gift-sized jar of dulce de leche left over from that trip and three blocks of cream cheese inherited from the aforementioned departing friend, I thought about brownies.

Brownies seem to have landed with a vengeance in Buenos Aires, since we ran into them in practically every cafe we visited. It was an unexpected amusement to scroll down a menu and see “brownie”, with no translation at all, sandwiched between traditional offerings like flan and pastafrola, a lattice-topped quince tart I will get around to making if I ever find fresh quinces again. In striving not to be the ugly American, I never ordered a food I could easily get back home, but we did get a few dainty brownie bits once as part of the cafes’ universal and impeccably civilized custom of offering a complimentary cookie, chocolate or other treat with your coffee (are you listening, Starbucks?). They were completely respectable brownie bits and went quite nicely with cafe dobles and leisurely conversation.

Although I never actually saw such a thing while we were there, it would be perfectly in keeping with Argentine sensibilities to add dulce de leche to brownies, since there’s pretty much nothing sweet that won’t at some point be embellished with the national condiment. My favorite heladeria already does this in reverse, adding brownie bits to dulce de leche ice cream. True to my ancestry, I’ve been known to warm a few spoonfuls from my normally jealously-guarded supply until liquid and dribble it Pollock-fashion over finished brownies with a sprinkling of toasted pecans or walnuts.

But that wasn’t going to be enough to finish off the jar this time, and I do have to use up all that cream cheese, so I decided to swirl the two together into an espresso-embellished brownie base. While rummaging through my strategic chocolate reserves (what, doesn’t everyone have one?), I discovered that we also still had Argentine semisweet chocolate left, the kind used to make the drink whimsically known as a submarino by dunking a whole segment into steamed milk and stirring once it’s started to melt. For the sake of authenticity, I decided to throw that in too.

I’m now almost out of espresso powder, have whittled down my strategic chocolate reserve, and that jar of dulce de leche is done. I might up the dulce de leche amount to a third of a cup next time for even more of a trademark hit, but otherwise I was quite pleased with their rococo appearance and coffee-and-caramel-kissed taste. It’s not the same as kicking back at Cafe Tortoni, but it’ll hold me for a little while.

Submarino!

By the way, thanks to my bicontinental mother, I still have an additional unopened 1-kilo can of dulce de leche, so be on notice that we’re in for many more applications in the coming weeks.

Buenos Aires Cafe Brownies
(Very loosely adapted from Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe)
Makes 1 13×9 panful, approximately 18 brownies

Chocolate base:
3 5/8 ounces (2/3 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids or higher), chopped
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, in quarters
7 ounces (1 cup) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon espresso powder
2 teaspoons Kahlua
3 large eggs

Dulce de leche cheesecake base:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup dulce de leche
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 egg yolk

Set oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with two perpendicular sheets of nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving overhang as handles for removing the cooled brownies later.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large glass measuring cup, combine the chocolate and butter and microwave at 50% until chocolate has completely melted, stirring frequently. Stir in the sugar, espresso powder and Kahlua, and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until completely smooth. Add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and dulce de leche until uniform. Stir in yolk and vanilla.

Spread half the chocolate mixture in the bottom of the pan. Drop half of the cheesecake base on top in evenly-distributed large spoonfuls. Repeat with remaining half of mixtures. Using a chopstick or wooden spoon handle, gently swirl the batters together to create a marbled effect. Over-mixing will blur and muddy the swirls.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center emerges with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely on a wire rack and cut into squares just before serving.

Notes:

The basic recipe for the brownies was baked in an 8×8 pan. Since I knew these would be significantly sweeter and richer, I decided to stretch the batter into a bigger pan, and got thinner, chewier brownies closer to what His Lordship looks for. If you want thicker and fudgier, bake this in the smaller pan for around 40-50 minutes, although you’ll still probably have to cut them into smaller-than-average squares.

Pictured is my favorite brand of dulce de leche, determined during the aforementioned trip via purchase and side-by-side tasting of half the dulce de leche aisle at the nearby supermarket. La Salamandra is one of the most readily available in the U.S., albeit at highly inflated prices.

My brother remains faithful to San Ignacio, the brand we grew up with courtesy of our then-jetsetting grandmother. San Ignacio was the close runner-up in my taste test, edged out by the slightly more prominent fresh-milk top note of La Salamandra.

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Further Adventures in Pantry-Clearing

Last night’s dinner put an additional dent in my reserve of olive oil (currently five different kinds), tahini, and herbs, and completely used up the basmati rice. It also made excellent use of Sunday morning’s farmers market haul.

Pattypan squash, white eggplant and long peppers were tossed with olive oil, garlic paste, salt and herbs and roasted at high heat until caramelized outside and tender inside. The roasted vegetables were served on a bed of buttered rice and topped with a cool and lemony sauce of yogurt and tahini, which I’d previously modified from one of my legitimately Greek cookbooks. If you preferred to use this as a side dish, you could forego the rice or other starch and toss the vegetables lightly with the sauce instead.

I must give His Lordship credit for the roasted vegetables, since he did all the prep work and came up with the marinade. His mad knife skills are greatly to be envied, and his creativity is boundless and seldom disappoints.

Roasted Vegetables with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce
Serves 4-6 as main course over rice, more as a side dish

Vegetables:
4 small eggplant, in 1/2-inch dice
1 lb summer squash, in 1/2-inch dice
1/2 lb of mild long peppers, in 1/2-inch slices
5 cloves garlic
1/4-1/3 cup regular olive oil (not extra-virgin)
1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs (Penzeys Parisien Blend)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and pepper

Sauce:
1/2 cup yogurt, preferably Greek
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, preferably infused with lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic
Half a dozen stiff shakes of Tabasco or other hot sauce
Salt and pepper
Sufficient hot water to dilute as necessary

Buttered basmati rice or egg noodles, if desired
Thinly sliced green onions for garnish

Position the oven racks in the middle and lowest position, and preheat oven to 450 F. Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment.

Place the cubed eggplant in one large bowl, and the summer squash and peppers in a separate bowl.

Mince the 5 cloves of garlic until fine, then sprinkle with salt and smash under the flat side of the knife until a smooth paste forms. In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, olive oil, herbs, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour half the marinade into each bowl of vegetables, and toss until everything is evenly coated.

Spread the eggplant in a single layer on one sheet and the squash and peppers on the second, and place each sheet on a separate rack in the oven. Roast until vegetables are caramelized and tender, approximately 20-30 minutes, stirring the vegetables and rotating their pans once during baking.

While the vegetables are roasting, repeat the smashing process with the final clove of garlic for the sauce. Add the paste to a large glass measuring cup, and whisk together with all the sauce ingredients except the water until well combined. Taste and correct seasonings as necessary, then stir in enough hot water to dilute to the consistency of heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the roasted vegetables over buttered rice or noodles, drizzled with several spoonfuls of the yogurt sauce and sprinkled with the green onions.

Notes:

It’s preferable to use ordinary olive oil rather than extra virgin for the roasted vegetables, since extra-virgin will lose its flavor under the high heat anyway. For the sauce, which is uncooked, a good extra-virgin is best, and if you have lemon-infused, by all means use it.

Since we have Penzeys Parisien herb blend, that’s what we used. You could make your own blend of chives, dill, basil, tarragon and chervil, or any combination of dried herbs you prefer. If I’d had some, minced fresh parsley would have been an excellent addition to the finished dish, for both flavor and color.

The sauce will get increasingly garlicky the longer it sits, so if you want it really strong, prepare it well ahead. Conversely, if you’re garlic-averse (hey, it takes all kinds), cut the garlic to half a clove and make it just before serving.

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Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

All Items Must Go!

As I noted in the updated “About Me” section, I am leaving the job that interferes so inexcusably with my blogging time — and, let’s be fair, also provides the captive audience for my weekly baking experiments — in favor of an accelerated masters program to set up my next career move.  Since said program is on the other coast, His Lordship, the puppy and I are hauling ourselves all the way across the country, again, for the next year.

(I should probably mention that my shifting career was also the cause of the last cross-country move.  Yes, His Lordship is a saint who amply deserves perfect birthday pies preceded by meatapalooza birthday dinners. But I digress.)

The point is that we need to clear out the pantry in the next six weeks.  I’m going to have to forcibly restrain myself from buying anything except weekly staples and start thinking of creative ways to use up what’s already in stock.  Given my tendency to accumulate and hoard esoteric items, this is probably going to result in some interesting meals and might be fun to watch in a freakshow kind of way.

Shall we get started?  Fabulous.

This first entry might not seem like a pantry-clearing dish, but I’m definitely counting the liquor cabinet as part of the brief, especially since it contains both our purchases and legacies we took on when other friends moved away.  Since neither of us is much for drinking at home, we consequently have enough booze stockpiled to run a fairly creditable speakeasy.

I’ve said before that I’m a mad fan of sour cherries and am giddy as long as they’re in the market, which is about two weeks in an average summer here.  This summer’s harvest having been so delayed, I’m snatching them up with even more frenzied desperation than usual.  The last quart was made into a cobbler, but it occurred to me as I was digging the luscious fruit from under the disappointingly under-cooked puff pastry top that the filling would have shone much brighter on its own.

Which brings us to this sauce.  The original cobbler recipe included red wine, but as I didn’t feel like starting a new bottle when we were already going to a wine party, I substituted a recently-opened port.  The port gave the cherries a lush, grown-up character, while the sourness of the cherries ensured that the thickened port didn’t veer into insipidity.  The bottle still being mostly full, I made the filling by itself with a second quart of cherries Saturday evening, to serve over the cheesecake His Lordship picked up.

Essentially it’s Cherries Jubilee, but headier and easier.  All the decadent flavor, none of the scary open flames, and it can be made ahead and reheated before serving over ice cream, cheesecake, or pound cake to your appreciative guests.  If there are leftovers the next morning, it makes a self-indulgent breakfast over yogurt.

This is hardly an inexpensive dessert, since sour cherries and good port are going to cost you, but in the sense that it used up a bottle I’d otherwise have had to dispose of when we move, I think it qualifies as frugal!

Sour Cherries in Port

Sour Cherries in Port
Serves at least 8 generously

1-2 quarts sour cherries, pitted
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 cup port, plus sufficient extra to make 3 cups of liquid with the cherry juices
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Stir in the cherries and 1 cup of port, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to macerate for 30 minutes.

Drain the cherries into a colander set over a large glass measuring cup, then set cherries aside.  Add additional port to make 3 cups of liquid and pour into a saucepan with the cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add cherries to the pan and return to a simmer, cooking 10 more minutes, until sauce has thickened and cherries are softened.

Remove from the heat, take out the cinnamon, and stir in the almond extract.  Cool to slightly warm or room temperature before serving, or refrigerate until needed.

Notes:

I had just one quart of sour cherries, which produces about a two-to-one port sauce to cherries ratio, but if you’re feeling extravagant, two quarts of cherries would be ideal.

The port I used up was an unusual Malbec-based one from Sonoma, but a regular good ruby port should be fine as long as it’s not syrupy-sweet.  You could also revert to the dry red wine of the original recipe.

Outside the evanescent season for fresh sour cherries, you could make this with frozen or jarred sour cherries in juice (not syrup).  I’m afraid that using regular cherries would probably result in a sickly sauce, but you’re certainly welcome to try and let me know.

Serving Suggestion

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While we’re on this theme…

Pistachio Yogurt Cake with Figs, Blueberries and Peaches

Wherein we continue to head in a vaguely Middle Eastern direction, with some promising initial results.

One of my stand-by choices for Sunday baking is the French yogurt cake I originally discovered on Chocolate and Zucchini, which yields grandmere levels of deliciousness from box-mix levels of effort, just the thing when I want cake now. It’s so simple and so good that I’ve used it in my class for foreign students with zero baking experience, and they were able to reproduce it perfectly all by themselves the very next day.

To take to work on Monday morning, I used the basic recipe to make cupcakes iced with an espresso and cardamom infused ganache inspired by Turkish coffee, and decorated along the edges with ground pistachios. They were fine, but considerably less interesting than I had hoped. In particular, the ganache was too rich and bittersweet for the chiffon texture and mild flavor of the cake and the pistachio flavor was negligible.

Since I still liked the idea of combining yogurt, cardamom and pistachios, on Monday evening I decided to try again. I put the pistachios inside the cake by replacing part of flour with ground nuts, and spiced it with a hint of cardamom and cinnamon. I added a few more regional elements to reinforce the theme: honey, a splash of orange flower water, and a compatible addition from a little further up the Mediterranean, in the form of Tuaca, an Italian liqueur with vanilla and citrus flavors that I find very handy to have around for baking.

This slightly different approach worked much better. The cake was nutty but not aggressively “pistachio” in flavor, and the honey, spices and extracts added a hint of perfume without evoking potpourri, which can be a real danger with flower water. The plain cake was summery and fresh served with a salad of figs, peaches and blueberries in a very simple syrup that moistened both the fruit and the cake. The addition of a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream, while not necessary, certainly didn’t hurt.

Unusual but not outre, this would be a nice end to a meal featuring Northern African, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Indian dishes.

Pistachio Yogurt Cake with Fig, Peach and Blueberry Salad
Serves 8-10

Cake:
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
14 tablespoons granulated sugar (1 cup minus two tablespoons)
2 tablespoons strong-flavored honey
1/3 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Tuaca or brandy
1/4 teaspoon orange flower water
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground raw, unsalted pistachios
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon each ground cardamom and cinnamon

Fruit Salad:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water
1/3 cup Tuaca or brandy
Juice of 1 lemon

1 pint blueberries
6-8 fresh figs, cut into wedges
2 peaches, peeled and diced

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch nonstick cake pan with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk yogurt, sugar, honey, oil, eggs, Tuaca and orange flower water until homogeneous.

In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, pistachios, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir dry ingredients into the yogurt mixture, gently but thoroughly, until no dry flour lumps remain.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out, remove parchment, and let cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup by combining sugar and water in a small saucepan and bringing to a boil. Simmer for two minutes, then decant into a heat-proof liquid measuring cup and cool to room temperature. Stir in the liquor and lemon juice. Combine fruit in a large bowl, pour over enough syrup to just cover the fruit, and allow to macerate in the refrigerator until ready to serve the cake.

Spoon a generous portion of fruit and its soaking syrup over each slice of cake before serving. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream if desired.

Notes:

The extra syrup can be used to sweeten iced tea, lemonade, cocktails, or any other summertime beverages. If not using immediately, cover tightly and store in refrigerator.

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Mid-Week Baklava

I’m still writing up this week’s Sunday baking recipe, but as an appetizer, I’m putting up the baklava I made in the middle of last week.

And why did the crazy woman make baklava in the middle of the week? Because she can, darlings!

OK, truthfully, because she defrosted phyllo over the Fourth of July weekend, dreaming all kinds of big phyllo-wrapped dreams, but never actually got around to realizing any of them. Instead, I made a simple spinach, potato and feta pie for dinner on Tuesday, using one of the two individually-wrapped 8-oz sleeves in the pack. Then, looking down at the third of a roll of dough left in the sleeve, I thought, what the hell, I’ll make baklava while I’m at it.

Although I have a few legitimate Greek cookbooks, I chose the Cook’s Illustrated Best International Recipe version as a starting point because I had yet to cook out of that book despite having obtained it it nearly two years ago as a result of the temporary insanity that led me to sign up for the CI cookbook club.

In addition to roughly quartering the quantities to fit the amount of dough I had, I made a couple of modifications in terms of ingredients and technique. First, regardless of its supposed superiority over plain melting, there was no way I was clarifying butter at 9:00 pm on a work day. I also chose the more adventurous combination of almonds and pistachios over their walnut-almond mix.

The combination of almonds and pistachios worked well, because pistachios alone can be a little overwhelming in baklava, and almonds by themselves don’t have enough character to stand up to the honey syrup. The CI approach of creating three thin layers of nut filling produces a nicely flaky and cohesive pastry without the usual tendency to slide and split in half when picked up. It was nicely saturated all the way through with this quantity of syrup, but next time I might double it just to ensure a completely hedonistic experience.

Baklava is never going to be an effortless endeavor, but this was ready to bake by the time the spinach pie came out of the oven, and it makes a perfectly reasonable quantity for a small household instead of enough to feed an army. It does need to sit several hours to absorb the syrup, so you won’t be eating it until morning unless you’re an even more incorrigible night owl than I am. The reward for your evening industriousness is sticky, buttery, crisp, perfect baklava with your breakfast coffee.

Almond-Pistachio Baklava
Serves 2-6

Syrup:
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons honey
2 strips lemon zest
1-inch piece of cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 pinch salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pastry:
2 ounces sliced, unsalted almonds
1 ounce roasted, salted pistachios
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Generous pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 lb phyllo sheets

Combine sugar, honey, zest, and spices for the syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved, stirring or swirling the pot as necessary. Transfer to a heat-safe cup, remove the lemon peel and cinnamon stick, stir in the lemon juice, and set aside to cool.

Adjust oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 300 F. Liberally butter the bottom and sides of a glass baking dish approximately 8 x 6 x 2.

Process nuts in a food processor until finely chopped, and transfer to a small bowl. Remove 1 tablespoon of nut mixture for the final garnish, then add cinnamon, cloves, and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar to remaining nuts.

Unroll the phyllo and cut to fit the size of the pan. Place one sheet in the bottom of the pan, and brush the entire surface with melted butter. Repeat with 9 more sheets, then sprinkle the top with one third of the nut filling. Cover the filling with 6 more individually-buttered sheets, and the next third of the filling. Repeat with another 6 sheets and the final third of nut mixture. Top with 8-10 more sheets of phyllo.

Using your flat palms, press out any air bubbles in the pastry, then brush on the remaining butter. Using a serrated knife, cut the baklava into diamonds, making sure to pierce all the way through the bottom layers.

Bake 1 1/2 hours or until completely golden, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove from oven and immediately pour all but 2 tablespoons of the syrup along each crevice, then drizzle the remaining syrup over the top. Sprinkle a generous pinch of the reserved ground nuts on the center of each piece.

Cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours, then cover with foil and let stand 8 hours or overnight.

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