Lemon Bliss Bundt Cake

Happy National Bundt Day!  The Food Librarian has done a really fun baking project the last few years: I Like Big Bundts! It's a bundt-baking extravaganza, and this year I decided to get involved. I made a super lemony bundt from the Food Librarian's archives, and it was super delicious. The cake itself is moist with a tight crumb - it came out of my somewhat finicky pan easily, which is always a gamble! After the cake comes out of the oven, a tart lemon-sugar glaze is poured over the whole thing, which makes the cake extra moist and adds a lot of great lemon flavor (this was my favorite part of the cake).  My roommates and I loved the cake and devoured it in less than 24 hours...so yes, it was definitely a hit! 

Meyer Lemon Bliss Bundt Cake (adapted from the Food Librarian, original recipe here)

For the cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk (non-fat is ok)
Zest of 3 Meyer lemons (a microplane works well)

For the glaze
1/3 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
3/4 cup sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients and milk in alternating additions (flour-milk-flour-milk-flour), beating well after each.  Beat in the lemon zest.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out.  Bake 55-65 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
6. While the cake is baking, make the glaze.  Stir together the lemon juice and sugar and set aside.
7. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes all over with a wooden skewer.  Brush the glaze all over with a pastry brush until it has all been used (it will seem like more than the cake can absorb, but just keep going).
8. Let cake cool completely and then remove from pan.

Chocolate Waffles

I bookmarked this recipe because it sounded too good to pass up, even though I don't have a waffle maker.   Luckily, I found out that one of my boyfriend's housemates has one, so I was able to make this recipe without shelling out for a waffle maker!  These waffles cook up crisp and tasty, but they aren't overly sweet or overly chocolate-y.  So, I recommend adding those elements in the toppings - a good sprinkling of chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate if you're feeling fancy) takes these waffles over the top!  (They'll melt slightly from the warmth of the waffles, without getting your waffle iron messy as might happen if you mixed the chips into the batter).  I like these with salted butter since I'm a sweet-salty fiend, but you can also use regular butter if you prefer.

Chocolate Waffles (adapted from Waffleizer, original recipe here)
Makes 6-8 medium waffles (depending on the size of your waffle maker)

2 large egg yolks
1-1/2 cups milk (low fat is fine)
1-1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 large egg whites
2 T brown sugar
Chocolate chips and softened salted butter, to serve

1. Preheat your waffle maker.
2. Whisk together the yolks and the milk.  Whisk in the flour and the cocoa powder.  Whisk in the butter until smooth.
3. Beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.  Gently fold into the cocoa batter.
4. Cook the waffles in the waffle iron.  Serve with chocolate chips and butter.

Spaghetti with Steak, Endive, Butternut Squash, and Balsamic Sauce

You know how you're not supposed to make a recipe you've never made before when cooking for a dinner party?  Well, I never follow that rule because I love making new recipes!  And it generally works out just fine, as with this very tasty pasta dish - really, you can almost never go wrong with Mark Bittman's recipes.  I made this pasta for a recent gathering of my book club (this past month's selection was Moneyball).  I had to make a few substitutions because I was shopping at Trader Joe's - as you may know if you shop at this store, they stock lots of really cool and unique items, but the produce section is sometimes pretty lacking.  Since the store didn't have radicchio, I subbed in half the amount of endive and some butternut squash -- not totally sure why I picked the squash, it just seemed like it would go with the other ingredients!

Overall, we all really liked the pasta (served with a big salad on the side), but I would definitely try to find radicchio next time and use the full amount (four pounds) as I felt the dish was lacking a bitter element - the endive definitely got lost among the other flavors.  Radicchio's purple color would also make the dish a bit prettier, which is never a bad thing!  You could also probably add more balsamic vinegar than the recipe calls for as the flavor wasn't super strong.  Although I don't often like whole-wheat pasta, I thought it worked really well here with the other flavors and made the dish feel a bit more hearty.  I loved coming across pieces of steak throughout the pasta - skirt steak worked well here but you could use any inexpensive cut that cooks relatively quickly.

Spaghetti with Steak, Endive, Butternut Squash, and Balsamic Sauce (adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook)

Serves 8

Salt

1/4 cup oil

1-1/2 to 1-3/4 pound skirt steak

Pepper

1 pound butternut squash, peeled and diced

2 pounds Belgian endive, cored and thinly sliced

2 red onions, halved and sliced

2 T minced garlic

1-1/2 pounds whole wheat spaghetti

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until just shy of al dente, reserving 1 cup pasta water.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.  Add the steak, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook 2-3 minutes per side until browned but rare.  Remove from skillet and cover with foil; let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.

3. Add the butternut squash to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, until softened.  Add the radicchio, onion, and garlic to the skillet and lower heat from medium.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, 5 minutes.  Lower heat and cover.

4. Thinly slice the steak, capturing all the drippings.

5. Add the vinegar to the skillet, stir, and let bubble until it thickens slightly but does not evaporate, just a few seconds.  Toss in the pasta, steak and juices, basil, and a generous grind of black pepper, as well as just enough pasta water to keep the mixture moist.  Taste and adjust seasoning, and then serve hot or room temperature.

Sausage, Panna, and Scallion Pizza with Cornmeal Olive Oil Crust

Wow, this is one decadent pizza, but it is so good!  Notice the "panna" in the title - sounds sort of innocent, maybe like it's a kind of cheese?  At least that's what I thought when I read the recipe title.  Actually though, it's unsweetened whipped cream, which is used on this pizza instead of a sauce!  Sounds crazy, but it makes for a super rich and delicious base for the other toppings (and actually you're not using an insane amount, just 1/4 cup per pizza).  The cream base is topped with sauteed fennel sausage, thinly shaved fennel, scallions, and fresh mozzarella - use a light hand with toppings as this is a thin crust pizza and you don't want to weigh it down.  Plus, everything is so rich that you don't want the pizza to be overwhelming!

All these amazing toppings are scattered on top of a no-knead pizza crust with cornmeal and olive oil.  I honestly couldn't really taste the cornmeal, but it did make for a really lovely yellow color.  This dough was easy to put together, and you can keep it in the fridge for a few days before using.  It was somewhat more difficult to stretch into thin crust pizza than some other crusts I have tried, probably because the combination of all-purpose flour and cornmeal isn't super high in gluten (it was also a fairly moist dough). However, once I got it stretched it crisped up really nicely and was a great base for the toppings.  This crust is definitely best the night it's cooked as it becomes somewhat soggy hanging out in the fridge overnight - although you can reheat it in a 500 degree oven and get fairly good results.  You can freeze the extra unbaked dough if you like -- as with other dough I've frozen, it's a little less elastic once it comes out of the freezer (and so harder to stretch), but still perfectly delicious!

Sausage, Panna, and Scallion Pizza with Cornmeal Olive Oil Crust (adapted from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day and the The Mozza Cookbook)
Serves 2-3
Makes enough crust for four thin crust pizzas and toppings for two pizzas (double the toppings if you want to make four pizzas, or save two portions of dough for later)

For the cornmeal olive oil dough
11 ounces lukewarm water
1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
1-1/2 T sugar
3 ounces olive oil
15 ounces all-purpose flour
2 ounces yellow cornmeal

For the toppings
8 ounces sausage, preferably with fennel
2 T good-quality olive oil
Kosher salt
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
Thinly sliced/shaved fennel (about half of a small bulb)
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into thin rounds
4 scallions, sliced thinly on the bias
Finely chopped fennel fronds


1. Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined (or stir together in a large bowl).  There is no need to knead.
2. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough has risen and then collapsed.
3. Stick the dough in the fridge for up to ten days in a covered but not airtight container.
4.  Prepare the toppings: saute the sausage in a non-stick pan until browned and cooked through, and get everything sliced and ready.
5. When ready to cook the pizza, preheat the oven to as hot as it will go.  Shape the dough into four half-pound (8-ounce) balls.  You can pop some of the dough back in the fridge or freeze some (in an airtight container, for up to 3 weeks) at this point if you like, or shape as many as you like into pizzas.  The amounts listed for toppings above are for two pizzas.  For each pizza you want to cook immediately, stretch into a 12-inch round and place on a pizza pan (or you can use a pizza peel/pizza stone if you're fancy like that!).
6. Brush 1 T olive oil on the rim of the crust and sprinkle the entire thing with salt.  Spoon half the cream in the center, and spread evenly, leaving a rim around the edges.  Scatter with half the shaved fennel.  Scatter half the sausage over the pizza, and top with half the mozzarella.  Scatter on half the scallions.
7. Place the pizza in the oven and bake until the crust is nicely browned on the bottom.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fennel fronds.

I'm sending this post off to These Chicks Cooked!

Eggplant Parmesan Pasta Bake

This month, my partner for the Secret Recipe Club was Isabelle of Crumb Blog.  I definitely had a hard time picking which of her delicious recipes I was going to try, but eventually I decided on this fantastic baked pasta dish. It really does mimic the flavors of Eggplant Parmesan, but it's far easier to make - no breading or frying in sight!  A richly flavored eggplant and tomato sauce is stirred together with parboiled pasta and then layered under gooey fresh mozzarella and nutty Parmesan cheese.  All the flavors combine perfectly to create a satisfying and filling pasta dish that's perfect for chilly fall weather.  The only change I might make would be to make this in a deeper dish next time as some of the edges didn't quite get covered in sauce.

Eggplant Parmesan Pasta Bake (adapted from Crumb Blog, original recipe here)
Serves 2-4

1/2 medium globe eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 scant tsp salt
Vegetable oil, for the pan
1 small onion, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound pasta
14-ounce can of whole tomatoes, roughly chopped, with juices
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
Generous pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
About 1/3-pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the eggplant in a collander and sprinkle with the salt.  Toss, and let sit 20 minutes to drain.
2. Put water on to boil (for the pasta).  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and oil a 2-quart baking pan
3. Heat some oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown.
4. Rinse off the eggplant under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.  Add to the onion and garlic, adding more oil if necessary, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes or until softened.
5. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the red wine, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes to the eggplant mixture.  Cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until just shy of al dente (about 6-7 minutes) and drain.
7. Taste the sauce and add salt and/or pepper as needed.  Add the pasta and stir to combine well.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.
8. Distribute the sliced mozzarella cheese evenly over the pasta, and then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is starting to brown.  Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Killer Scalloped Sweet and White Potatoes in Smoky Hot Sauce

I've totally fallen in love with this easy and healthy version of scalloped potatoes.  These definitely don't taste like the creamy, cheesy scalloped potatoes that often appear on holiday tables, and while I do love that version, these are a nice change of pace (and much healthier to boot).  The cream is replaced with a spicy chipotle-tomato sauce, and half the white potatoes are subbed with sweet potatoes.  I added a bit of goat cheese sprinkled on top just for fun, which adds a great tangy element to the dish.  Even without all the cream and cheese, this is still great comfort food for cold weather.  These potatoes are great as a main dish alongside a big salad or with some crusty bread, or you can serve it in smaller portions as a side along with something like roast chicken.

Killer Scalloped Sweet and White Potatoes in Smoky Hot Sauce (adapted from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven)
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side

1 pound ripe Roma tomatoes
Oil
Generous pinch kosher salt
1/2 tsp minced canned chipotle chiles (more to taste)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 ounces soft goat cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees (or as hot as it will get), and move the oven rack to the top slot.  Line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Cut each tomato in half and scoop out the seeds.  Oil the baking sheet and place the tomatoes upside down on the sheet.
3. Roast the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes, until the skins are browned and blistered and the tomatoes are very soft.  Remove from the oven.
4. Turn the oven down to 375 degrees and move the rack back to the middle level. Oil a 1 to 1.25 quart baking dish.
5. Let the tomatoes cool slightly, then slip off the skins.  Combine the tomatoes, a generous pinch of salt, and the chipotle chiles in a blender and blend until smooth.  An immersion blender also works well.
6. Stir the milk, 1/2 tsp salt, and garlic into the hot sauce until combined.  Toss the potatoes together in another bowl.
7. Layer one third of the potatoes into the baking dish.  Cover with a third of the sauce. Repeat with another layer of potatoes and sauce.  Dot the goat cheese all over the potatoes.  Finish with a final layer of potatoes and sauce.  Press down slightly with a rubber spatula and make sure the potatoes are completely covered in sauce.
8. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and remove the foil from the potatoes.  Bake for another 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are very tender.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket with Fennel and Carrots

I promised myself that I would use my slow cooker more often this this fall, and this recipe was a great way to kick things off.  The beef is super tender with fantastic flavor, and the sauce is rich and warm.  The fennel and carrots cook the whole time the beef is cooking, so they do get very soft.  I thought that was nice in this dish, but if you want the veggies to have more of a bite, you could add them later or even cook them separately.  I might double the carrots next time as there didn't seem to be quite enough to me.  I served the brisket over extra creamy potato puree - Yukon golds mashed with lots of butter and milk.  I thought this was the perfect accompaniment to the beef and veggies, but you could also serve this with noodles or something else on the side -- I ate some of the leftovers over a baked sweet potato, which was really tasty. 

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket with Fennel and Carrots (adapted from Haute Apple Pie, original recipe here)

Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
2 pounds beef brisket
3 medium cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
6 ounces lager (about half a bottle)
1 large bulb fennel, cut into large pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into large pieces
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 T spicy brown mustard
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
Beef or chicken broth

1. Heat a few good glugs of vegetable oil a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Season the brisket all over with salt and pepper.
2. Brown the brisket on all sides in the oil.  Remove from the pan and place in the slow cooker.
3. Add the garlic to the oil and saute for a minute until softened  Add the lager and simmer for about 1 minute.  Pour over the beef.
4. Place the pieces of fennel and carrot around the meat.
5. Whisk together the brown sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and paprika.  Pour over the brisket.  Add broth as needed so that the liquid comes most of the way up the meet (not necessary for it to be totally submerged).
6. Cook on low for 8 hours, flipping the meat halfway through.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.