Amaretto baked figs

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 Belinda

Recipe by Adam Bush for Olive magazine

Unlike many others, I’m not a huge fig-fan unless they are coated in something interesting or topped with roasted prosciutto and blue cheese. On their own, I find them bland and pulpy.
HOWEVER, this is a really good recipe for upping their sweetness.
Jammy figs are roasted with amaretto for a nutty sweetness. Serve with creamy mascarpone and crumbled amaretti biscuits for an elegant autumnal dessert

**I am leaving this recipe in metric, as I’m finding the metric system is far more specific and I’m preferring it these days

Serves 4

12 figs, halved
150ml Amaretto liqueur
75 g Caster sugar (superfine/bakers)
1/2 tsp plus 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
200 g mascarpone
200 plain full fat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp icing sugar (powdered)
50 g Amaretti cookies

Heat the oven to 350F/180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

Put the figs, cut-side down, into a 20cm x 30cm (8″x 11″) baking dish. Whisk together the amaretto, caster sugar, ½ tsp vanilla and 50ml of water in a small pan and heat until the sugar dissolves, then pour over the figs. Cover the dish with foil and roast for 10 minutes, before removing the foil and roasting for another 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Mix together the mascarpone, greek yogurt, ½ tsp of vanilla paste and icing sugar.

Spoon some mascarpone yogurt onto plates, and spoon over the figs and their syrup. Crush over a few amaretti biscuits to serve.

Asian flavors · Baking · Breakfast · Do-ahead · Holiday Food

Triple ginger muffins

October 4, 2021September 7, 2022 Belinda

A baked good for the true ginger fanatic, these muffins pack some serious spice thanks to the addition of grated fresh ginger, ground ginger and minced crystallized ginger. Molasses, a key ingredient in traditional gingerbread, gives the muffins a beautiful golden hue and helps keep them moist for days — if they last that long. (Any variety of molasses will work here, but there may be some color variation depending on the brand used.) For larger, bakery-style muffins, use a jumbo muffin pan and bake the muffins for a few extra minutes.
Recipe by Lidey Heuck for the New York Times

1 cup/201 grams granulated sugar
½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup molasses
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger (from a 2-inch piece)
2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
¾ cup/108 grams, plus 3 tablespoons/27 grams minced crystallized ginger

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, butter, eggs, milk, molasses and grated ginger, and whisk until smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. (Be careful not to over-mix! The batter will be slightly lumpy.) Stir in 3/4 cup crystallized ginger, reserving the remaining 3 tablespoons for the topping.

Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the reserved crystallized ginger onto the tops of the muffins, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully transfer muffins to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Asian flavors · Dairy-free · Gluten Free · Meat · Soup

Pork noodle soup with ginger and toasted garlic

October 3, 2021 Belinda

This soup, based mostly on pantry staples, can be made with a variety of proteins, noodles and greens depending on what you have on hand. Snow pea leaves are exceptional here, which can be found in many Asian grocers year-round, but spinach, Swiss chard or other dark leafy green would work well. Don’t skip the raw onion, the soup’s finished complexity depends on it.

Recipe by the wonderful Alison Roman

Serves 6
3 tbsp neutral oil, grapeseed, vegetable or canola
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 lb ground pork
1 ½ tsp red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari, plus more to taste
1 large bunch pea leaves or spinach, thick stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger (from about a 1 1/2-inch piece)
6 oz rice noodles (thick- or thin-cut), cooked and drained
½ medium red, yellow or white onion or 3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup cilantro, leaves and tender stems, coarsely chopped

Heat vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium.
Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the slices become nicely toasted and golden brown, 2 or 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove garlic and set aside.
Add pork and red-pepper flakes to the pot, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, using a wooden spoon or spatula to break up large pieces, until the pork is well browned and in small bite-size pieces, 5 to 8 minutes.
Add chicken broth, soy sauce and 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes or so, until the pork is very tender and the broth tastes impossibly good. (Give it a taste and season with salt, pepper, red-pepper flakes and soy sauce, if you want.) Add pea leaves, half of the onion slices, and all of the ginger. Stir to wilt the leaves.
To serve, ladle soup over noodles and top with remaining onion, cilantro and toasted garlic.

Baking · Chocolate · Do-ahead

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 1, 2021September 7, 2022 Belinda

These taste distinctly homemade: much smaller than giant, thick bakery-style disks and more delicate, with just enough buttery dough to bind the chocolate and oats.
Mixing by hand turns out cookies that are crisp at the edges and tender in the centers. These can be mixed and baked in under an hour, but the dough balls also can be packed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to a month. You can bake them from ice-cold, though they’ll need a few more minutes to turn golden brown.

Recipe by Genevieve Ko for the New York Times
Makes between 2 and 3 dozen cookies

¾ cup/100 grams all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp fine sea salt
8 tbsp/114 grams unsalted butter, softened
½ cup/94 grams packed brown sugar
¼ cup/59 grams granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups/134 grams old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup/189 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup/63 grams chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Mix the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy. Beat in the egg until incorporated, then stir in the cream and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and gently stir until no traces of flour remain. Add the oats, chocolate chips and nuts (if using), and fold until evenly distributed. Loosely scoop a rounded ball of dough using a measuring tablespoon or small cookie scoop and drop onto a prepared sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls 2 inches apart.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.
Cool on the sheet on a wire rack for 1 minute, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Fish

Sheet-Pan Shrimp Gratin

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021 Belinda

Recipe by Eric Kim for the New York Times

The best part of a gratin is the crispy crust, and here in this shallow sheet-pan version, there’s more of it. Flaky panko bread crumbs — with a sprinkling of mozzarella and Gruyère — form a crisp, almost chip-like topping that tastes not unlike the edges of garlicky, cheesy Texas toast. In fact, the topping comes off in large, snackable pieces. As this bakes (for just 10 minutes!), the spice blend perfumes the kitchen, thanks to herbes de Provence.
The shiitakes add earthy heft and incredible umami, but for a more delicately flavored gratin, you can leave them out. Serve this with a big green salad or eat it straight out of the pan.

Serves 4
½ lb peeled, deveined shrimp, tails removed, shrimp cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, thinly sliced crosswise into coins
3 ½ oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, tough stems removed, caps thinly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tsp sweet paprika
¼ to ½ tesp red-pepper flakes
¾ tsp herbes de Provence
Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella
¼ cup finely grated Gruyère
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, toss together the shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, shallot, garlic, paprika, red-pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon herbes de Provence, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon oil until well combined. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch sheet pan or shallow baking dish in a single layer.

In the now-empty bowl, toss the panko with a pinch of salt, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and ¼ teaspoon herbes de Provence to combine. Evenly pour the cream over the shrimp mixture in the pan, covering all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the panko mixture over the shrimp, then top first with the mozzarella, followed by the Gruyère.
Bake until the cream is bubbling and the panko and cheese are light golden brown all over, 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving with the fresh lemon wedges, which should be squeezed over the gratin just before serving.

Do-ahead · Egg based · Holiday Food · Vegetable sides · Vegetable-related

Mushroom Bread Pudding

September 24, 2021September 7, 2022 Belinda

This is my first Fall post, and the beginning of my most favorite season for cooking.
Recipe by Susan Spungen for the New York Times

Wonderful served as a brunch centerpiece or as a holiday side, this rich meatless bake can be assembled in advance, refrigerated overnight, then baked just before serving. You could certainly prepare it day-of and let the bread soak for 15 minutes before baking, but allowing it to sit overnight will make it more tender.
Delicate brioche is the ideal bread for this pudding, and it is available in most supermarkets, often in the form of hamburger rolls, which are a good size and shape for this dish.
Challah is also a good option, but it’s a bit denser, so it may take more than 15 minutes for it to soak up the custard.

Serves 6-8

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
½ pound mixed fresh mushrooms, such as cremini or shiitake, trimmed and sliced 1/4-inch thick
8 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish, if desired
2 small shallots, halved and thinly sliced
2 tbsp cognac (optional)
2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
Black pepper
3 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and well washed
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
3 oz grated Gruyère (about 1 cup)
12 oz brioche (or 4 to 6 large brioche buns), cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
2 oz finely grated Parmesan (about 3/4 cup)

Boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Add the dried porcini mushrooms and soak until softened, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to a cutting board and finely chop; set aside. Carefully pour remaining mushroom liquid into a large bowl, leaving any grit behind.

In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter over high. Add fresh mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 8 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Add sage, shallots and chopped porcini, and cook, stirring, until shallot is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add cognac, if using, season to taste with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate.

In the same pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and a big pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until wilted, 5 to 7 minutes. Return the mushroom mixture to the pan and stir to combine with the leeks. Remove from heat.
Add eggs to the large bowl with the mushroom liquid, and whisk to blend. Add cream, milk, cayenne, 1½ teaspoons salt and plenty of black pepper. Whisk thoroughly to combine, then add the Gruyère.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter, then add about 1/4 of the fresh mushroom mixture and arrange in an even layer. Arrange the bread slices on top in an overlapping pattern. Sprinkle the remaining mushroom mixture over top, tucking it in between the bread slices. Ladle the custard mixture over top, evenly distributing the cheese. Refrigerate, covered, overnight (see Tip).

When ready to cook, remove the dish from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Heat the oven to 350 F. Top the pudding with Parmesan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until set in the center (it may puff a bit). Run it under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to brown the top, watching carefully.
Let sit 10 minutes, then serve warm, topped with additional sage if desired.

Tip
If you don’t have time to soak overnight, let sit for at least 15 minutes, pressing down on the bread from time to time to encourage absorption. Before baking, tear into a piece of bread to make sure the custard has fully permeated it — the bread shouldn’t look dry at the center — and let sit another 15 minutes, if needed, to allow the custard to fully soak in. Decrease the cooking time by 10 to 15 minutes.

Baking

Sticky orange and ginger baklava

September 19, 2021September 19, 2021 Belinda

This comforting autumnal-style baklava combines a filling of fresh orange zest and spices with blended walnuts and is drenched in a gloriously sticky stem ginger syrup
Stem ginger is a fantastic ingredient to have on hand in autumn, and the syrup from the jar is just as useful as the ginger itself.
Recipe by Anna Glover for Olive Magazine

Serves 12.

11oz (300g) walnuts
2 oranges, zested and 1 juiced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
3-4 balls stem ginger finely chopped, plus 2oz (50g) of syrup from the jar
2 oz (50g) runny honey
7-8oz (200g) butter, melted
2 x 9.5oz (270g) packs filo pastry, defrosted
9oz (250g) golden caster sugar

Put the walnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (don’t blend to a paste, you want to keep the texture). Tip into a bowl and stir in the orange zest, spices, stem ginger, honey and a pinch of salt.

Brush a little of the melted butter over the base of a 9″(20cm) x 12″(30cm) baking dish. Halve or trim the filo sheets so they’ll fit the dish, then layer half of the filo into the base, brushing each sheet with the melted butter as you stack the layers. You should have about 10-12 layers in total.

Sprinkle over the chopped nut mixture and gently smooth the surface with a spatula so it reaches the edges. Repeat step 2 with the remaining filo, layering it over the nut mixture. Brush the remaining butter over the top of the baklava. Heat the oven to 400F/180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

Score squares or a diamond pattern into the top of the baklava using a sharp knife, then chill for 10 minutes to firm up. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until deeply golden and crispy on top.

When the baklava is almost ready, make the syrup.
Put the caster sugar and stem ginger syrup in a pan with the orange juice and 6.5fl oz (200ml) of water. Bring to a simmer over a low-medium heat and cook gently for 6-8 minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is a smooth syrup. When the baklava is cooked, immediately pour over the warm syrup.
Cool to room temperature (this will allow the baklava to absorb the syrup), then cut along the scores you made earlier and serve.

Appetizer Vegetarian

Baked cheese in a box

September 10, 2021September 10, 2021 Belinda

Perhaps the quickest way to feed two or three hungry people is this gloriously rich but more-ish dish. Quick and simple to prepare.
Recipe by Sally Clarke

Serves 2, 3 or even 4

1 “boxed” cheese – ideally Baron Bigod, Tunworth, Camembert or Vacherin
1 large garlic clove, centre shoot removed if present
Rosemary sprigs
A quarter to a half of a bread loaf of your choice
Good olive oil
Sea salt
Runny honey (optional)

Heat the oven to 350F/160C (180C non-fan).
Unwrap the cheese (if in paper) and return to the balsa-wood box. With a small sharp knife, pierce the top skin of the cheese in 10 or 12 evenly spaced places. Slice the garlic finely and gently push a slice into each hole along with a small sprig of rosemary. Place the cheese (in its box) into an ovenproof serving dish and bake for 5 minutes or until the tips of garlic and rosemary start to color.

Meanwhile, slice the bread into 8 or 10 chunks or slices for dipping.

Remove the dish from the oven and place the bread pieces around the outside of the cheese. Drizzle them with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Return the dish to the oven for a further 8-10 minutes or until the bread is golden at the edges and the cheese has just started to ooze from the side.

Serve immediately on warm plates, drizzled with honey if you like, and use the bread pieces to dip into the molten cheese.