Grilled Peaches

Having a barbecue to use inspired grilled pizza and peaches. Admittedly, my mom does not have a lot of baking ingredients on hand, so grilled peaches was also inspired by the fact that we had butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in the house. Our peaches could have been grilled a little longer, but I was getting impatient, and eaten alive… even under-grilled they were still quite good. The brown sugar topping was like the topping on a cinnabon – don’t waste any of it. Be sure to drizzle any extra on top of the peaches and ice cream.

Happy grilling!

Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans

I just spent 3 weeks in Truro. With so much free time on my hands, I certainly had to do some cooking. It’s always fun to play in non-nyc kitchens. It’s also nice to cook with such fresh ingredients and it doesn’t hurt when your family is impressed no matter what you do! Here is recipe number one…

Summer barbecues often seem synonymous with boring potato salad. Yuck. I hate mayo and therefore most potato salads. When I came across this recipe for Pesto Potato Salad on Smitten Kitchen described as “just perfect for the mayo-phobic” it was very intriguing. Pesto, green beans, scallions, pine nut, cheese… what could be bad? Now, if you really want the potato salad to be delicious bring it to the beach for dinner like we did… eating dinner while the sun sets over the water makes any meal better.

Happy summer cooking!

Low Fat Banana Muffins

Over-ripe bananas? Not sure what to do? Here is a low-fat banana muffin recipe that puts those brown bananas to good use. I grew up eating traditional banana bread which was extra delicious because we’d eat it sliced, toasted and buttered, what could be bad? But, now that I’m a bit more calorie conscious I’d rather eat low-fat banana bread and devour high-calorie chocolate with slightly less guilt.

I experimented on my own substituting applesauce in my banana bread recipe and the result was a gummy mess. So I went on a search for recipes using yogurt or some other substitute and found one using buttermilk. (See below for how to make your own buttermilk!) This low-fat recipe calls for 1 tbls. oil and 1/3 buttermilk compared to my old version which used ½ cup butter and 1 tbls. milk – while I’m no chemist, I know that is significantly lower in fat! Unfortunately after finding the recipe online, I copied it into my cookbook and can’t seem to find it again… my apologies to the original chef for lack of credit for this recipe.

Happy Baking!

Lemon Kissed Cupcake Tarts

So, I’m not a very good blogger. I haven’t been cooking much lately, and I tend to question what meals are truly blog worthy. But, today I finally whipped up a dessert creation I’m calling “lemon kissed cupcake tarts.” When I made the fragrant yellow cake in March I had some leftovers. I tried to make thin layers but the first attempt came out way too thin so I froze them and started from scratch. Today I took the frozen layers out of the freezer, cut them in tiny circles, and frosted them with lemon frosting. Yum.

Happy leftover-ing!

Chocolate Toffee Matzo

I came across this recipe on Epicurious a few years ago. It is originally from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking. The recipe is called “My Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Caramel Matzoh Crunch.” Hysterical, but so accurate. The first time I made it I got so many ohhhs and ahhhs. Now, my family really does request it. I usually make a few batches to bring with me to Seders, to give out to Jewish friends as gifts, and to have at our own Seder. We have both milk and dark chocolate lovers so I make a batch of each. If you are still looking for something to do with that extra matzoh, look no further…

Ingredients

• 4-6 unsalted matzohs
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or unsalted Passover margarine
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate (*I don’t measure the chocolate but I think I use about double this amount. I recommend Ghirardelli chocolate chips)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large (or two smaller) cookie sheet completely with foil. Cover the bottom of the sheet with baking parchment — on top of the foil. This is very important since the mixture becomes sticky during baking.
Line the bottom of the cookie sheet evenly with the matzohs, cutting extra pieces, as required, to fit any spaces.
In a 3-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter or margarine and the brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil (about 2 to 4 minutes). Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and pour over the matzoh, covering completely.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°. Bake for 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, remove the pan from the oven, lower the heat to 325°, and replace the pan).

Remove from the oven and sprinkle immediately with the chopped chocolate or chips. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spread the melted chocolate over the matzoh.


While still warm, break into squares or odd shapes. Chill, still in the pan, in the freezer until set. (*I find it easier to freeze it first and then break it into pieces with my hands – it is a mess to cut when it is still warm)

Brisket

Mom’s Brisket

My mother’s brisket is my favorite (sorry dad). It is flavorful, tender and delicious. When I was little I went through a no red meat phase, but I always made an exception for “Jewish” red meats, including corned beef and of course brisket. Since brisket is usually a family recipe my mom has made some revisions and come up with her own. Below is approximately what we’ve come up with.

Happy Brisketing!

Ingredients:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• 2 medium onions (in large slices)
• 1-2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 1+ cups of red wine
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• Carrots (optional)
• Shallots (optional)
• Potatoes (optional)
• Mushrooms (optional)

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Season the brisket (we used about a 6 lb brisket) generously on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sear the meat on the stove top until both sides are brown. Transfer the meat to a roasting pan. In the same sauce pan, add a little bit of vegetable oil and sauté the onions until golden and tender. Add the onions to the roasting pan as well.

Dissolve the beef bouillon cube in just enough hot water for it to break up. Add enough tomato sauce, red wine, and bouillon to cover the meat. (We gave my sister the hard jobs like dissolving bouillon!)


Cover with tin foil and cook for 1-2 hours. Place the meat on a cutting board with a beveled edge to catch the juices (or in our case using a cutting board in a cookie sheet did the trick). Cut thin slices of brisket, remembering to cut against the grain!! Transfer the cut brisket back into the roasting pan and add in desired vegetables. Cover and cook for an additional 2 hours or until very tender.

Brisket can be eaten that day, refrigerated, or even frozen. Re-heat at 350 degrees for about an hour before serving.

Unfortunately in the midst of serving Passover dinner I forgot to take a photo of the finished product... We served it with carrots, shallots and halved mini red and white potatoes. Yum.

Yellow Cake with Meringue Buttercream Frosting

I feel like I’ve been on a never ending search for the perfect cake recipe. I even attended a class at the Institute of Culinary Education about Making and Decorating the Perfect Birthday Cake. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the recipe - it seemed a bit heavy. Recently, in my search for a cake, Kritsa (Krit’s sister) shared the following recipe with me. I have found that cakes made with oil, instead of butter, tend to be more moist, so this cake worked in that sense, and also included wine which was a surprisingly delicious addition.

To complement the cake, I used a strawberry filling and a meringue buttercream. I think it would also work well with a simple whipped cream frosting.

Happy baking!

Fragrant Yellow Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup dry, fragrant white wine
• 2 ½ cups flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 ¼ tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for about 1 minute. Then pour mixture into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 30 minutes (until cake pulls away from the sides).

Strawberry Filling

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strawberries – fresh or frozen, halved
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ cup of water
• 2 tsp. cornstarch

Ingredients listed are approximate. Add ingredients at your discretion and to your taste. Lemon juice, rind, additional sugar, honey etc may all be added as needed.

Directions:
Add all ingredients together over low heat and mix until sauce begins to thicken. Mash strawberries or use an immersion blender to smooth out sauce.

Meringue Buttercream

*recipe from the Institute of Culinary Education

Ingredients:

• ½ cup egg white (about 4 large eggs)
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 3 sticks softened unsalted butter
• 1 tbls. vanilla

Directions:
Place egg whites, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk gently and constantly until egg whites are hot and sugar is dissolved (about 140 degrees or too hot to put your finger in for 5 seconds). This will take about 3-4 minutes.

Take the bowl off the heat and whip the meringue by machine using a whisk attachment, until thick and cooled, about 5-10 minutes. (**Be patient! It is very important that the mixture is cool to the touch so that the butter you add in next does not melt). Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the butter until the buttercream is smooth and spreadable. (**If it becomes a funny texture at some point during the process be persistent and keep mixing until it becomes smooth).



Use the buttercream immediately or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature and beat smooth by machine. Just before using the buttercream add in flavoring. Beat in the vanilla and continue beating until smooth.

(For a different flavor, you can substitute 2-3 tbls. of lemon juice, 3 tbls instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbls of water, or 2-3 tbls liqueur etc. for the vanilla).

Enjoy!!!