In the Kitchen: Walkaway-and-Enjoy Soup

This is another toss-it-in-a-pot "recipe." Because of course such dishes are not recipe-built. It's a bit of a lost art, isn't it, this "toss stuff in a pan and apply heat"? (Or not. Because we do the same thing sans heat, especially in summer, when we call it "salad.")

• package of frozen spinach
• can of navy beans (any white bean, but Roman/pinto would work, too.)
• half can of tomatoes (although once we were eating it, I realized the whole can would have worked fine).
• handful of millet and of bulgar
• half handful of barley and of a quite small pasta (I used the the rice-kernel shaped ones)
• a carton or so of chicken stock or homemade or whatever you've got for stock. Water works just dandy. (Adjust seasonings accordingly.)
• meat. Or not. I found sweet "Italian" chicken sausage in my freezer. But you can skip the meat. This is a whatever dish.

I cooked the sausage (using just a tad bit of olive oil because I let the pan get too hot).

Added the liquid (stock, water, whatever) and scraped up the bits. Tossed in the beans, tomatoes, spinach (mine was frozen because forgot to get from freezer; I just tossed it in).

Located the grains in the drawer. Had a nice selection, so in some of them went. What a lovely way to add good food with zero effort. Seriously!

Added the grains. Heated liquid to just boiling, which took longer than I would have thought. (All that lovely starch!)

No biggie. Walk away. Do something else while it's concocting its magic.

Oh: about an hour later, I remembered that bunch of  parmesan rinds in the freezer and  I tossed one into the pot. No need to thaw. Umami, as we westerners are now calling it. (The American English term is "meaty.")

Pour the wine, etc. Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Spicy Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche Glaze

Yes, I enjoy making cakes. Not fancy, double- or triple-layer extravaganzas, but one-bowl, easy cakes. Because who doesn't like cake? (If you don't, well, I'm sorry for you but don't burden me with your woes. Please). This cake is one of the truly terrific recipes from Cake Simple: Recipes for Bundt-Style-Cakes, by Christie Matheson. HIGHLY recommended. (The book.) (And the cake. It's intensely chocolate, but somehow not over-whelmingly rich.)

I've made this several times. Last time, I reduced the amount of chili powder and added a bit of strong coffee to the liquid. Didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. Not sure how much of it was the lesser amount of heat and how much was the coffee flavor overpowering the heat. Anyway: it's terrific as is. But I'd love to hear about your variants.

CAKE:

• 3/4 c. cocoa powder (the real stuff, not the sweetened stuff for making hot chocolate)
• 1 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 3/4 c. boiling water (this is where I swapped out water about a quarter cup of coffee for same amount of water)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1-3/4 c. flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. chile powder (use ancho if you have it, but any "hot" chile will do)
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 T. vanilla (the real stuff)
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil (corn, canola, whatever)

DULCE de LECHE GLAZE:

• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/4 c. condensed milk
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. chili powder
• 1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a bundt pan (10 or 12 cup): rub with butter, and then dust with flour. Tap to ditch the excess flour. The original recipe suggested dusting with melted butter and then cocoa powder. Made a tremendous mess. I went back to my usual butter/flour method.

Put the chocolate in a small, heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Let it cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the two sugars, the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder. If it seems kind of lumpy, sift it instead. The more "smooth" the dry ingredients, the better the "crumb" (texture) of the cake.

In a mixing bowl (I use a stand mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment (or beaters if that's what you've got), whisk/beat the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil, and melted chocolate on low speed until thoroughly combined.

Still using low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix/whisk until the dry is incorporated. Increase the speed slightly and mix for another 2 or 3 minutes. Don't over do it! This is the step that determines the cake texture: over-beat or over-mix, and you'll end up with a dry, tough texture.

Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 40 -45 minutes. (Check at 40. There are few things more disappointing than an over-baked cake.)

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 or so minutes, then loosen it with a knife and invert on to a plate. Let it cool completely.

When it's cool, glaze.

To make the glaze: In a heavy, but nonreactive, small pan, combine the cream and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. (You'll know when that is, because the "grainy" feeling will vanish.) Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until the mixture has reduced to about a coup. Stir in the condense milk, and then whisk in the cinnamon, chile powder, and salt. Pour it gently over the cake. NOTE: if you want to avoid a mess on the cake platter, lay pieces of parchment paper around the bottom of the cake. Then just pull those away after you've finished glazing the cake.

Enjoy!

In The Kitchen: Orange Cake

I posted a photo of this on Facebook after I baked it and several people requested the recipe. Easiest to put it here rather than there. I'm not sure where I found this recipe (I've had it for years). Gourmet, perhaps? Anyway: the original recipe identified it as St. Louis Orange Cake. At our house, it's known as Christmas cake, and as Bill's Favorite Cake. The great thing about this cake is that it's light. There's nothing heavy or rich about it, but it's bursting with flavor.

The secret to that flavor is the final step: soaking the warm cake with glaze. It keeps well (in the frig, if you think it'll hang around for a few days) and makes a great breakfast cake, too.

• 1-3/4 c. flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 2 sticks buttered, room temperature
• 1 c. sugar
•  3 t. finely grated or chopped orange zest (two oranges worth)
• 3 eggs, room temperature, separated
• 1 c. PLAIN  yogurt (not sweetened!)
• 2 t. vanilla (use the real stuff, folks; it's worth the money)
• pinch of salt
• GLAZE:
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. orange juice  (squeeze the heck out of the two oranges you zested)
• 3 T. lemon (roughly the juice of one lemon)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a bundt pan (10 or 12 cup) or a tube pan. Tap out the excess flour.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking  powder, and baking soda three times.

I use a stand mixer (you could it all by hand if your shoulders and wrists are up to it). Beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, roughly five or six minutes. Gradually add the sugar and orange zest, beating until the sugar is fully dissolved  and the mixture is light. This takes about eight minutes.

Add the egg YOLKS one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Add the yogurt and vanilla and continue beating until light and fluffy, another couple of minutes.

Using a large wooden spoon, gently fold in the dry ingredients. (You could use the mixer, but if so, keep the speed low and don't overdo it. Overmixing makes for a tough cake.)

In a different bowl, using medium speed, beat the egg WHITES and the salt until firm. (Dip and lift the beaters. The whites should just stand.) Using a spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter until just blended. Again, don't overdo it. Spoon the batter into the pan and smooth the surface.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes. In my oven, it's done at 5o minutes, so keep an eye on it and a tester handy. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes.

While it's cooling (or just before the cake is due to come out of the oven), combine the glaze ingredients in a small pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce to low heat, and simmer until the syrup has reduced to about a half cup. This will take ten or fifteen minutes.

Use a knife to loosen the cake from the pan. Invert it onto a serving platter. Brush or drizzle the glaze over the cake. There's a lot of glaze and this will take several minutes. You want the glaze to saturate the entire cake. And do this while the cake is warm! Otherwise the cake won't absorb the glaze as easily or fully.

Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Easy Peezy Meat and Veg

I like the colder weather months for a number of reasons (not least of which is that they go much faster if I like rather than just tolerate them). One of those reasons is the food: "Winter" food typically requires more time over a stove or in the oven. (Not me. The food, silly!) And sometimes I don't have time to cook so --- I go with the easy stuff. Like last night. About as basic as it's possible to get: steak and roasted root vegetables.These are two dishes that work best with a whole lotta heat: From trial-and-error, I've concluded that the optimal oven temperature for roasting vegetables i 425. For meat, a HOT pan or broiler.

Usually when I cook steak (and that's not often), I do it stove-top: I heat a pan, add a thin drizzle of oil, and sear. But last night I wanted to try something different, so I consulted Bittman's How To Cook Everything (on my iPad. TOTALLY worth the money). One of his suggestions was as follows:  

Heat a heavyish pan (cast iron is best, but I used an old, beat-up Calpholon pan) until it's smoking. No oil. Sprinkle some salt in the pan. Add the meat, and sear for three minutes. Turn and sear the other side for three minutes. Don't do as I did, cough cough, and sprinkle more salt in the pan before you flip it. It'll be too salty. The piece I cooked was a New York Strip, about an inch thick. Three minutes a side rendered a perfect medium rare. And the char was fabulous. I doubt I'll go back to my old method of using some oil. Sublime. (Yes, I know you vegetarians/vegans are now busy gagging. What can I say? I didn't eat meat for 25 years, so been there, done that.)

As for the vegetables: PRE-HEAT THE OVEN. You need the oven to be hot before the vegetables go in. I had a parsnip and a beet. They were fairly large, but there are only two people in my house, so that was plenty. I chopped them into largish chunks, put them in a bowl (for easier mixing). Drizzled olive oil over them and tossed gently. Sprinkled salt and pepper. Tossed. Chopped a tiny (emphasis on tiny) bit of garlic. Tossed. Transferred them to a baking sheet (aka a jelly roll pan) and into the oven they went, for about 40 minutes. Also perfection. Lots of crunchy, not-quite-burned bits with each bite. Yum!

Pour the red wine or hearty beer and you're set.