Apple Clafouti

This is a wonderful cool weather dessert. Other than the time it takes to peel and cut up the apples, it is fast and easy. The recipe is a variation on one from Saveur magazine. It is best served warm with sweetened whipped cream.  Makes 8 servings.

Apple Clafouti

For the Batter:

3 eggs

1 cup milk or cream

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

For the Apples:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large or 5 medium tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp bourbon
Topping
2 tsp sugar
ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400º
Melt the 4 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, and the bourbon and cook until the apples are glazed and warm, and the juice is syrupy.

Butter a deep 9" pie dish with 2 tbsp of butter and put the pie dish in the oven to warm. Put the milk or cream, eggs, 6 tbsp melted and cooled butter, vanilla, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt into a blender and blend until smooth. Remove the pie dish from the oven and pour in half the batter. Add the warm apple slices, separated from the juices which should be reserved, distributing them evenly, then pour the remaining batter over the apples. Sprinkle the 2 tsp of  sugar and a little cinnamon over the batter and bake until the clafouti is golden and set in the center, 25-30 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved apple juices.

German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

This is the cake that Len requests every year for his birthday. The card that my mother found with the Baker's chocolate bar and gave me many, many years ago is starting to fall apart so I am adding it to my blog.
This recipe is straight from Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate, no changes at all.

Update for a better cake: The last time I made this cake I used Guittard 64% chocolate and the cake was much better.

German's Sweet Chocolate Cake
1 package German's sweet chocolate, 4 ounces
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Butter 3 8" cake pans and line with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 350º. Melt chocolate in 1/2 cup of boiling wate. Cool. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla and melted chocolate and mix until blended. Sift flour with soda and salt.  Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition until batter is smooth. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour batter into pans and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and then frost with the filling that follows below.

Coconut and Nut Filling and Frosting
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, my mother always used walnuts but the recipe called for pecans
Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add coconut and nuts. Beat until cool and of spreading consistency. Makes 2 1//2 cups, or enough to cover tops of 3 8" layers.

Chicken Paprika

I just spent a wonderful 2 days with the friend whom I have known the longest. We met in fifth grade and I have had fantastic experiences with her. Food has always been an important part of our time together. Her mother cooked great things for us and a favorite was chicken paprika. Unfortunately her mother did not give her the recipe, but Ilse did give it to my mother. It is still a favorite of mine and it is very easy.

Ilse Steinberger's Chicken Paprika
1 chicken, about 4 lbs., cut in serving pieces
4 tbsp butter (or less if the chicken is fat)
1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
1 tbsp or more paprika (imported rose, not hot)
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream
salt
Brown the chicken in butter. Salt to taste. Add onion and cook until translucent. Sprinkle with paprika and add water. Do not brown the paprika. Cover and cook until tender, about 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the pan. Thicken the gravy with flour. Add sour cream and heat, but do not boil. Pour the gravy over the chicken. Serve with spaetzle.

Molasses Crinkles

I promised this recipe to Cindy M. This was a favorite recipe of my mother's. I don't know where it came from. I have tweaked it a bit.

Molasses Crinkles
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup unsifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 cup white sugar
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer, longer with a hand mixer. Add egg and then molasses. Whisk all dry ingredients, except white sugar, together in a bowl and then add. Chill several hours or overnight. Shape into balls the size of walnuts, dip into white sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake at 375° for 11 to 12 minutes.

My New and Improved Pumpkin Pie

When it came time to make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year I decided that the time had come to improve on my mother's recipe that I had been using for years. I don't like using evaporated milk like she always did and I wanted to up the spice a bit. I ended up combining recipes from Cooks Illustrated Magazine's cookbook and the Simply Recipes Blog, plus a bit of variation of my own.

Pumpkin Pie

single pie crust, partially baked if you like

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups pumpkin puree (16 oz)

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl. Stir in the cream to the eggs and then the pumpkin. Stir in the dry ingredients. Pour filling into crust and bake in a preheated oven at 400º 45 to 50 minutes, until the filling is set 2" from edge. The center should still be wobbly. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. The center will finish cooking as the pie sits.

Flakey All Butter Pie Crust

For years I happily made my pie crusts using only Crisco, oblivious to the lack of flavor, happy with how easy it was to work with and how flakey and tender it was. I was afraid that if I used butter my crusts would be tough. Then I found "Cook's Illustrated" magazine's recipe for pie crust that used a combination of butter and vegetable shortening, i.e. Crisco, and it was better tasting and still easy to make and flakey. Last year I decided that I was ready to move to an all butter crust and tried a couple of recipes. I was discouraged though, because they were tough. The flavor was definitely better, but I just didn't seem to have the knack of making pie crust even after all those years of practice with the Crisco training wheels. I went back to making the combined butter and Crisco crusts. Then Susan Karon sent me a link to the blog "Chez Pim" and Pim's all butter pie crust. Pim's inspiration was a recipe from Judy Rodger's "Zuni Cafe Cookbook". I have looked at a local bookstore for the cookbook, but they didn't have it and the library has been closed for over a week and so I couldn't find the original recipe. I changed Pim's ingredients a bit, but I used her technique. Making a crust using this recipe is easy as pie. The flour measurement is given by weight and volume. I weighed my flour. You will need a pastry scraper and a brush.

Thank you Susan for sending me the link that helped me over my all butter hurdle.

A Truly Flakey Tender All Butter Pie Crust

enough for one double crust or two single crust pies

250 grams/2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

225 grams/8 oz/ 1 cup cold unsalted butter

60 ml/1/4 cup ice water

Whisk the dry ingredients together and then dump them on your work surface. Cut the butter into large slices and place it on the flour.


Toss the butter and flour together so that the butter is coated with flour.
With the heal of one hand push on the butter and with the scraper toss flour onto the butter. You will be sliding your hand as you push onto the butter, working flour into the butter. You will keep pushing on the butter with your hand and flipping and tossing the flour with the scraper and then as they mix, flour and butter, onto your heap on the counter.


The butter will become thin flakes and when there are more buttery flakes than loose flour, stop. If some of your flakes are really big you may break them up a bit.

Make a well in the middle of your floury heap and pour the ice water into it. Quickly mix in the water with your finger tips. When the water is evenly mixed into the dough, scrape up the dough and fold it in half over itself. Do this until it holds together, pat it into a round, wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Flour your work surface liberally, put the dough onto it, and flour the dough liberally also. Roll the dough into a longish rectangle.

Brush off the excess flour with the brush and then fold the dough into thirds on top of itself like you are folding a letter. The dough will crack and maybe break, but don't worry about it.



Flour your work surface and the dough and turn the dough 90º. Repeat the rolling into a rectangle and the folding, brushing before you fold.

Do this a total of 3 times. Refrigerate during the process if the day is hot and your dough is getting warm. The dough will become smooth and pliable.

Roll the dough one last time into a smaller rectangle and cut it in half.

Pat each half into a circle and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until you are ready to make your pie. You're done. Congratulations!

Butternut squash and white truffle oil mac and cheese

This recipe came about when Chris and I were in Richmond, VA and saw this intriguing sounding macaroni and cheese on the menu of a restaurant we went to. We decided to order something else, but come home and make it for ourselves. It's delicious. I use sharp cheddar for the recipe, but that's a personal preference.

1. Slice half a butternut squash into 1/3" slices and cut so they are about bite size. Saute them lightly in olive oil with some sage and water. Set aside when done.
2. Optional: take some slightly stale sourdough bread and make breadcrumbs. We keep the breadcrumbs separate from the macaroni and cheese until right before serving, as we realize if you sprinkle them on top of the dish, the next day they will not be crisp anymore.
   
3. Grate 8oz of cheddar cheese. Set aside.
   
4. Melt 3tbsp butter in a pot, stir in 3tbsp flour, and whisk over low heat for 3 minutes. Keep whisking and add (little by little) 2.5 cups of milk. Keep whisking until the sauce is about the thickness of cream. Salt to taste. Raise the heat to medium and stir continuously until the sauce begins to simmer. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes (stir occasionally). Turn the heat off and gradually stir in the cheese until it is fully incorporated.
   
5. Boil al dente some pasta, I like to use cavatappi.
   
6. Butter the dish and add in the pasta, butternut squash and cheese sauce. Mix all together and sprinkle a teaspoon of white truffle oil over the macaroni and cheese. Too much truffle oil will overwhelm the dish.
7. Place in the oven at 400 Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
8. Let cool for five minutes, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of the individual servings.