Baking · Dessert · Do-ahead · Holiday Food

Easy Breton apple cake with salted caramel sauce

Belinda

This is very easy to make, mostly in one bowl.  Very moist and the caramel sauce is divine!

For the cake:

10 tbsp butter, melted and cooled, plus 2 tbsp for the apples
1 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp Kosher salt (not regular table salt)
1 cup sugar plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided
Zest of a lemon
3 large eggs
4 firm apples (you can mix varieties too) peeled, cored and thickly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Butter and flour an 8” cake pan (It’s easier to use a spring form tin)

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, 10 tbsp of melted butter and the lemon zest.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix well to form a batter.
In a heavy medium skillet, heat the 2 tbsp of butter and add in the apple slices.
Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of sugar and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat until the apples are juicy and caramelized.
Keep stirring, so the apples don’t stick.
Lay half the apples on the bottom of the prepared cake pan and spoon half the batter over them.
Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t completely cover the apples.
Layer with the rest of the apples, then the rest of the batter.
It’s easiest if you have a rubber spatula to spread the batter.

* It’s nice to sprinkle the cake with some cinnamon sugar before putting into the oven.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness.

Salted caramel sauce

1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (not regular salt)

In a small, heavy saucepan, heat the water and sugar on medium boil until turning golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
You can scrape the brown bits on the sides of the pan down with a wet pastry brush. Take the golden liquid off the heat and carefully add in the cream. It will bubble fiercely, so be very careful not to splatter yourself.
Place back on the stove and stir for 2 minutes.
Add in 3 tbsp butter and salt and cook for another minute or two until the butter and mixture is nice and smooth.

Transfer to a heat resistant vessel, and place in the fridge to cool. You can make the caramel sauce 5 days in advance

Fish · Pasta

Pasta with cauliflower and anchovies

Belinda

This is a Marcella Hazan recipe which is so simple and so flavorsome. It was brought to my attention recently by the person who served me at the Beverly Hills Cheese Store. Thank you!!

You can adjust the amount in this recipe if you’re using less than 1lb of pasta.

Serves 4

1 & 1/2 lb head of cauliflower
1/2 cup olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped fine
6 flat anchovy fillets, chopped
1/4 tsp chopped red chile pepper
salt
1lb packaged penne or other pasta
2 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped

Break apart the cauliflower into florets; steam until tender, about 10 – 12 minutes.
Put the oil, garlic and chopped anchovies into a medium-sized saute pan.
Turn on the heat to medium and saute until the garlic begins to turn golden, stirring and mashing the anchovies.
Put in the cauliflower and break it up with a fork, crumbling it into peanut-sized pieces, mashing some of it into a pulp to create a sauce.
Add the hot pepper and a liberal amount of salt. Cook for a few minutes more.
Cook the pasta, place in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over it.
Toss and add the parsley.

 
Accompaniments · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Holiday Food · Vegan

Ginger, curry, candied almonds

Belinda

Delicious and festive!

Yields 4 cups

1lb raw unpeeled almonds
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2” piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cayenne
Kosher salt to taste

Heat oven to 350 F
Spread the almonds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; cook until heated through, about 5 minutes; set aside.
Heat the butter, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger and cayenne pepper in a 2 qt saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Pour the glaze over the nuts, stirring to coat evenly, return to the oven and cook until slightly dry, about 15 minutes more.
Sprinkle with salt and let cool before serving

Baking · Dessert · Do-ahead · Holiday Food

Easy pumpkin pie fudge

Belinda

This recipe is from the food blogger “tasteandtellblog.com” and I want to share it as is, no tweaking.
Such a great idea to get that  concentrated pumpkin pie blast of flavor in a small bite.

Yields 48 pieces

1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
12 oz white chocolate chips
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 tsp really good vanilla essence

Line an 8” by 8” baking dish with non stick aluminum foil.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin, butter, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
Heat over medium heat.
Bring to the boil and allow to boil for 12 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from the heat and stir in the white chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Stir in the vanilla.
Pour into the prepared pan and chill until set.
Cut into squares.

 
 

Do-ahead · Holiday Food · Meat · Poultry

Thanksgiving/Christmas meat loaf

Belinda

The whole array of Thanksgiving flavors in one dish! It’s a lot of fun to eat.

2 lbs ground dark turkey (preferably organic)
2 boxes of your favorite stuffing mix
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
2 large eggs
1 tbsp grain mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp red chile flakes
2 cups hot chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 400 F

In a heatproof bowl, add the two boxes of stuffing mix, poultry seasoning, mustard, garlic and chile flakes.
Pour the two cups of hot broth over the stuffing and mix well to soften.
Then mix together the 2 lbs ground turkey, salt and pepper and 2 eggs. Mix both the stuffing and meat mixture together.

Take more than half the meat loaf mixture and start to construct your meatloaf in the middle of a lined shallow baking dish. Flatten it out a bit then lay slices of the cranberry sauce down the middle of the meat mixture. Top with the remaining meat mixture making sure the cranberry sauce in completely surrounded all round with the meatloaf mixture.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until fully cooked.

Slice and serve with gravy.




Appetizers · Do-ahead · Gluten Free

Carrot harissa hummus

Belinda

Delicious and very different. Well worth making. Thank you to Aida Mollenkamp for this recipe.

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb carrots, roughly chopped and ends discarded
2 medium cloves garlic cloves, peeled
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained (chick peas)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp tahini or almond butter
3 to 4 tbsp harissa paste
4 to 5 large ice cubes
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp runny honey
Kosher salt and pepper

Heat the broth in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil.
Add the carrots and garlic, reduce to medium and cook until very tender, about 10 minutes.
Remove from the stove and cool slightly.

Combine the carrots and 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid with the chick peas and garlic in a food processor fitted with a blade.
Process until the mixture is very smooth.

Add olive oil, tahini or almond butter and ice cubes and pulse until the mixture is very smooth.
* Regarding the Harissa paste, this amount makes a fairly spicy hummus, so you might want to start with 1 tbsp and taste it to make sure you can handle the heat.

Pulse in 3 tbsp of the Harissa, (or 1 tbsp to start with if you’re not sure of the spiciness) lemon juice and honey and season well with salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, honey or Harissa as desired.

Place in the refrigerator to let the hummus cool off before using, at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

* The hummus can be made up to 4 days ahead of time – store it refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to use.

Baking · Do-ahead

Blackberry and coconut tray bake

Belinda

Tray bakes are very “Commonwealth.” I was brought up with them in New Zealand and they are also very popular in Great Britain. They are usually very easy to make and so delicious. My son, Oliver made this to take to work, it was spectacular and everyone wanted more.

8 oz self-raising flour
4 oz oats
5 oz soft brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
7 oz cold butter, cut into pieces
4 oz sweetened shredded coconut
2 large eggs
14 oz fresh blackberries

Heat the oven to 350 F

Tip the flour, oats, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture using your fingertips until only pea sized pieces remain.

Stir through the coconut, then fill a tea cup with the mixture and set this aside.

Stir the eggs into the bowl of mixture, then spread over the bottom of a lined baking tin, (like a 9” by 13” shallow Swiss roll tin or a square tin)
Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon, then scatter over the blackberries so they cover the mixture.

Scatter over the reserved teacup mixture and bake for 1 hour  – 1 hour 20 minutes until golden and cooked through (if you poke a skewer in, it should come out with moist crumbs but no wet mixture).

Leave to cook, then remove from the tin and cut into squares.
Serve with some extra berries, if you like.

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Poultry · Soup · Whole30 compliant

Uncomplicated golden overnight chicken/turkey stock in your slow cooker

Belinda

I want to shout this recipe out loud because it makes the world’s best stock while you’re sleeping, it’s SO effortless and with only 4 few ingredients. I can hear you say, “What about the carrots, celery, thyme….?”  You really don’t need them! Try this recipe as is first, is all I am saying and you will realize it’s all you need.

In preparation for Thanksgiving or Christmas (and any other times you want the very best quality chicken or turkey stock), we woke up this morning to the beautifully pervading smell of turkey broth cooking in the slow cooker.
I’m getting ahead of the game by making the turkey stock for the gravy, and having made this recipe once, I swear there is no other stock recipe you will need.
It is so easy and with so few ingredients. Go to your local supermarket (I went to Wholefoods) and ask for 3lbs of their wings, that is all.
It’s a rich, golden, strongly flavored stock and usable in so many ways.
It would be the most divine broth just to have neat, especially if you’re under the weather and it will make the most wonderful gravy.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, go out and buy yourself one, (preferably 5 quart size or more) even if it’s just for this recipe. They are very inexpensive and well worth it.

Makes 3 quarts

4 lbs uncooked chicken or turkey wings
3 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp salt, or more to taste

Place all the ingredients in your slow cooker.
Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (I did mine overnight) or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.
Strain out the chicken/turkey parts, onion and garlic.
I put a large colander lined with kitchen towel over a large bowl and emptied everything into that and waited for 20 minutes until every drop had been strained through the towel, then threw all solids away.
The stock is now ready for use, or you might like to refrigerate it overnight and skim off the small amount of fat the next morning, freezing it for when you roast those potatoes!
Once defatted, you can use or freeze the broth for later use.
It’s as simple as that!

 
Nuts · Poultry

Roasted chicken pieces with saffron, hazelnuts and honey

Belinda

This is easy to make, and is loosely based on the flavors of Marrakech. It looks stunning on a platter served at the table and has a very delicate and exotic flavor.
Serve with plain rice or couscous.

Serves 4

4lbs chicken legs or chicken pieces
2 large onions, roughly chopped
5 tbsp olive oil
1 good tsp ground ginger
1 good tsp ground cinnamon
a generous pinch of saffron threads
Juice of 1 large lemon
4 -5 tbsp cold chicken broth
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 ounces unskinned hazelnuts
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp rosewater
3 scallions, roughly chopped

In a large bowl, mix the chicken pieces with the onions, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, lemon juice, chicken broth, salt and pepper.
Leave to marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge, preferably.

Preheat the oven to 375F
Spread the hazelnuts out on an oven tray and roast for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Chop roughly and set aside.

Transfer the chicken and marinade to a roasting tray large enough to accommodate everything comfortably. Arrange the chicken pieces skin side up and put the tray in the oven for about 35 minutes.

While the chicken is roasting, mix the honey, rosewater and nuts together to make a rough paste.
Remove the chicken from the oven, spoon a generous amount of nut paste on to each piece and spread it to cover.
Return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the nuts are golden brown.

Transfer the chicken to a serving dish and garnish with the chopped scallions.

 

Appetizers · Gluten Free · Holiday Food · Salad

Puy lentils with dried sour cherries, bacon and Gorgonzola

Belinda

Sweet, sour and musky-salty. Such a harmonious mixture in a really heady starter

Serves 2 – 4 as a starter salad

1/2 cup Puy lentils (You can use the vacuum packed precooked ones, but miss out the first stage and just reheat in microwave. Also,use about 3/4 to 1 cup lentils as they are already cooked.)
2 bay leaves
2 – 3 shallots, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water
1 tsp caster sugar (superfine)
2 oz dried sour cherries (You can use dried cranberries, but the slight sourness of these dried cherries works better against the other flavors)
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
8 rashers of bacon (streaky, preferably)
3 oz baby spinach
4 oz creamy Gorgonzola cheese
salt and black pepper

1/  Wash the lentils under cold running water and then drain. Transfer to a saucepan and add enough water to cover them by 3 times their height. Add the bay leaves, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are al dente.

2/ Meanwhile  make the sauce. Place the shallots in a pan with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and saute over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until golden.
Add the water, sugar, cherries and vinegar and continue simmering over a low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until you get a thick sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

3/ Drain the lentils (if you have cooked them yourself) and immediately add them to the sauce so they can soak up all the flavors. Stir together, taste and adjust the salt again.
It will need quite a lot, but remember you are adding bacon and Gorgonzola later, which are salty. Set aside to cool down.

4/ Heat the remaining olive oil in a saucepan and fry the bacon in it for 3 minutes on each side, until it turns quite crisp.
Transfer to a piece of kitchen paper to cool. Tear the bacon into large pieces and add to the lentils, then add the spinach and stir well.
Taste and see if the salad needs any more oil, salt or pepper.

5/ Transfer to serving plates and dot with broken chinks of Gorgonzola