Is this thing on?

Hi old friends. Friend, maybe.

Just dropping in to let you know I'll be blogging here now. For real.

And the address, in case the hyperlink doesn't work: http://anathleteagain.blogspot.com/

See you there :)

Birthday Tiramisu

My favorite thing about my birthday is the chance to make myself a birthday dessert. I usually spend weeks -  sometimes months - deciding what to make, looking for the perfect recipe, and generally making a big deal out of dessert. You know, like I usually do... but around my birthday I have a great excuse!

To illustrate how bad I am at this blogging thing (and also how hectic December was), my 25th birthday was over a month ago and I'm just getting around to posting this! But, true story, this was unbelievable. I must have said "I can't believe I made this!" at least ten times. That good.

This year I  had wanted to try making tiramisu, and my birthday provided the perfect opportunity. Not only do I love tiramisu a LOT more than cake, my December birthday gave the procrastinator in me the chance to shine. I made the ladyfingers from scratch as well, but don't be impressed: rather than ambition or ability, the decision to bake them was due to some rather painful memories of my mom sending me to 1,048,934 grocery stores in search of ladyfingers every time she had to make a charlotte rousse. Thankfully, this wasn't often.

I loosely followed Mario Batali's recipe, mostly because I felt like he knows his desserts. However, the cheapskate in me couldn't justify using 2 egg whites and 4 egg yolks - no matter how good my intentions, I never end up using leftover egg whites. Instead, I used 3 each of eggs and yolks. I found a number of recipes that included whipping cream and I liked the idea of a fluffier dessert, so I also added that to the original recipe.

Without further ado,

Tiramisu
adapted from here

4 oz espresso, strong
2 oz liquor (I used dark rum)
3 eggs, separated
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

8 oz mascarpone cheese
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
24 savoiardi (lady fingers)
6 oz shaved chocolate


Mix coffee and liquor together and set aside.
Over a double boiler, beat egg yolks and sugar until mixture lightens in color and forms ribbons. Allow to cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold mascarpone cheese and heavy cream into egg yolk mixture one quarter at a time. Add vanilla, then gently combine the mascarpone mixture with the egg whites. Set aside.

Dip each ladyfinger into the espresso and lay along the bottom of several small glasses or a large dish. Top this layer with half of the mascarpone mixture and sprinkle with half of the shaved chocolate. Repeat, then enjoy

Simple Marinara

We are creatures of habit. We wake up at our normal time, do the same things, shop at the usual stores, and eat repetitively. When we find a product, whether it be a shirt, a tool, or a food, we tend to stick with it. So it surprised me the other day when D announced that he was sick of our favorite marinara.

What? I thought the sauce was just perfect. Tomato-y, a little oily (but in a good way), perfect on its own or as a base. I'll admit, I was a little sad at the thought of finding another sauce. That is, until I remembered this recipe, which I had bookmarked a few months before. It was easy to make and the ingredients plain; the reviews promised the taste was anything but. I made it one Sunday afternoon along with some homemade ravioli. It was simple enough to complement the fresh noodles and cheeses, but vibrant enough to jazz up the box o' whatever I threw together later that week in a weekday rush. Turns out I didn't miss that old jar of sauce too much!

Marinara Sauce
Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Combine the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring sauce to a simmer, then lower the heat. The sauce should be at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of melted butter float. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Remove and discard the onion. Salt to taste.

Homemade Pasta

Italian cookbook

Spinach, Chard and Ricotta Tortellini

http://homecooking.about.com/od/pastarecipes/r/blpasta51.htm

http://www.annamariavolpi.com/ravioli.html


http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/11813/ravioli-with-spinach-and-ricotta-filling

Dulce de Leche Apple Crisp

Find that recipe!

Grasshopper Brownies

This is another dish I made and brought to the baby shower. By my own admission, I went a little crazy... but these were really, really good :)

Grasshopper Brownies


Brownies
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not extra-bitter or unsweetened and no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mint Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For the brownies, first, preheat the oven to 375 with the oven racks in the center. Grease a 9x13 pan, or line with foil for easy removal.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then the flour, cocoa, and salt. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the mint ganache, first, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let melt for1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and chill until thick, about 1 hour.

For the chocolate ganache, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a bowl. Let melt for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill until thick, about 30 minutes.

Finally, to assemble the layers, spread a thin layer of mint ganache over the top of the brownie. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Then spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Peach Cupcakes - Nope, Cake - with Brown Sugar Frosting

One of my closest friends is due with her first baby, a little girl, at Thanksgiving. This weekend we celebrated that with a small shower hosted by another of my friends. The hostess put together an amazing pancake bar and I offered to provide some sweets. And it was almost a train wreck.

I live in a different city than where I grew up. I'm lucky, though, because its just a 6 hour drive (or a 45 minute flight) home, which means I get to be there for all the little things. Like baby showers. But the relevance to the story is that when I got to my dad's house on Friday evening I had a lot on the schedule: figure out what to make, pick up what I needed at the grocery store, and make it.

The first thing to do seemed easy enough, but I'm an indecisive girl and just could not decide what to make. I asked my siblings, the hostess, my boyfriend and never came to a conclusion. In the end, I made everything.

I took my brother to the grocery store with me. I knocked over a giant display of spices. He laughed and I bought him horchata.

Then I came home and got down to business. First I stuck some of this in the oven, which I've done plenty of times before, and it threw up all over the place. Which its never done before. I had to turn off the oven, let it cool off, and scrape half-caramelized dulce de leche off the bottom of the oven. Disgusting.

When I got back on track I got on a roll. I started making the batter for this amazing peach cake, and when it was done I opened the cupboards to grab my dad's cupcake tins. I couldn't find them. My bother told me that not too long ago, my dad had thrown away a whole bunch of kitchen stuff that he didn't use. Including the cupcake tins AND all but one cake tin! I ended up baking a three-layer cake using one cake tin. It was special.

The whole story is to tell you people that I worked hard for this cake, and it was worth it. The frosting especially is going to make it into my regular cake rotation because brown sugar plus cream cheese? Count me in!

Peach Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from here


Peach Cake 
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt
4 large peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped small

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare cake tins (I suggest using more than one!).

In a small saucepan, combine peaches with 1/4 cup of water. Simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until peaches being to break down. Set aside to cool.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and reserve. Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. Gently mix in the buttermilk. Slowly add the dry ingredients and fold in the peaches.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes.


Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, heavy cream, and vanilla, beating until frosting is smooth and light.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

My family, like many others, spends our holidays with a few other families. We rotate venues and change menus every year, but some things always stay the same. Christmas Eve, for example, is always at my family's house. We always serve seafood bisque, pork pies, and carrot cake. Its just tradition.

A few years ago at Thanksgiving the hostess served a pumpkin sage soup. I'm usually not one for pumpkin, but this soup was out of this world. Since then, regardless of where we are gathered, she has brought soup over as a first course. And since then, regardless of season, I've had dreams about this soup.

It has finally cooled down - and rained! - in Southern California and I've been feeling fall-ish. I want to wear boots and cute coats and eat soup. I attempted, mostly in vain, to recreate the famous soup. I wasn't successful, but this version is quite delicious all on its own.


Apple Pumpkin Soup
Very Loosely adapted from here

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small-to-medium pumpkin
5 medium apples
2 tbps olive oil
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 tbps chopped garlic
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
applesauce
sour cream or creme fraiche

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Peel and roughly chop apples and pumpkin. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until soft but not mushy.

Heat 2 tbps olive oil in a dutch oven. Sweat chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Add garlic and saute until all vegetables are soft. Add the stock and the roasted pumpkin and apple. Blend, either with an immersion blender or in batches until the entire soup is smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille
Adapted from here

1 onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped garlic
3 cups tomato sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large eggplant
3 zucchini
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
4 potatoes
fresh thyme
Salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Pour tomato into the bottom of a glass 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the garlic and onion into the sauce, stir in one tbsp of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Slice the vegetables using a mandoline, approximately 1/16-inch thick. Arrange slices of vegetables in rows in the baking dish, alternating vegetables. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the vegetables and season with thyme, salt, and pepper

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes, until vegetables cooked, but not totally limp.

Torta de Mele

Torta di Mele
Apple, lemon, and fig cake

adapted from here

• 50g ground walnuts or almonds, or some plain flour
• 600g granny smith (you must use a tart cooking apple or your cake will be too sweet….trust me) apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 115g unsalted butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 165g (3/4c) dark brown sugar
• 110g (1/2c) raw or regular caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100ml milk
• 150g (1c) plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• about 100g dried figs, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Lemon syrup

• about 150g raw or white sugar or 180g honey
• splash (about 1 Tbs) water
• juice of half a lemon (or whole lemon if you want it tart-er)

Generously grease the sides of an 8″ springform cake tin (up to the very top), line the base with greased baking paper or foil (then place greased ring on top), and dust with ground nuts or 1 Tbs flour. Rotate pan and tap to distribute the nuts/flour evenly across every surface of the pan. Set aside.
Combine apple slices and lemon juice and zest in a bowl and toss to coat the slices. Set aside. Preheat oven to 180C (355F)
In a medium sized bowl whisk eggs, 110g of the dark brown sugar, all the caster sugar, and vanilla, until paler, creamy and thick. Stir in melted butter, then flour, baking powder and milk, until fully incorporated, but do not keep mixing once fully incorporated.
Pour a third of the batter into your cake pan and spread gently so the layer is even. Arrange a third of the apples as a single (do not do a double layer all the way around) layer on top of the batter. Scatter with half the figs. Repeat. Top with last third of the batter, then finish with apple slices.
Rub remaining dark brown sugar and cinnamon together, then scatter over the apples.
Bake cake for 1 hour and 20 minutes (check at the 1 hour 15min mark), or until a skewer inserted comes out clear (it will have some moist bits on it). Cool for twenty minutes in the pan before running a knife around the cake and removing the ring. Then let cool completely before removing foil and base.
To make syrup, simmer sugar and water for a few minutes over medium heat in a very small saucepan, until sugar is completely dissolved. Stir through lemon juice. Pour syrup over while hot.
Serve with double cream, ice cream, whipped cream or mascarpone.

Roasted Green Chile Enchilada Sauce

Whenever I go out to eat Mexican food I always face a dilemma: whether to order red sauce or green sauce. I always regret that I can't try both! So after I made red enchilada sauce earlier this year, the most natural next step was to make a green sauce. Pretty soon I'll be whipping up special dishes for myself with one half red sauce and the other half green :)

Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce

10 medium tomatillos, husked and washed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large poblano chile
2 jalapeno chiles
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 cup water stock
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 lime juiced

First roast the chiles and tomatillos: Preheat the broiler and put the chiles on a baking sheet. Broil until black and blistered on all sides. Remove from the oven and place in a tupperware. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then remove and peel. Discard skin, core and seeds.

Heat oven to 450F and place tomatillos on a sheet pan. Roast until lightly browned on one side (about 5 minutes), turn and roast until evenly browned and starting to blister.

Heat a sauce pan until medium and add oil, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring regularly for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Add tomatillos, chile, oregano, water or stock, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to an easy simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in cilantro and lime. Blend in batches and simmer until the desired consistency is reached.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

There are a few things we've gained since moving back to the west coast. Perfect weather, for example. Good mexican food. Beaches that can actually be enjoyed. On the other hand, there are plenty of things we miss. The walk-ability of the city. Reasonable public transportation. And all types of food; mostly though, pizza and bagels.

I've covered my attempts to recreate the thin crust pizzas of New York City. So far I haven't been successful, but its a work in progress. I've made quite a few pizzas so far and, although they aren't anything like what can be had in Brooklyn, you certainly won't hear me complaining about all the pizzas I've had to eat along the way.

Which brings us to bagels. The bagels in NYC are incredible. There was a corner store just down the street from our old apartment that made bagels fresh, every morning. If we were up early enough we could smell them from our balcony - but we were very rarely up at 4am! 

These bagels were just one of the hundreds of bagel offerings throughout the boroughs - served warm, with a large schmear of cream cheese. After New York bagels, its hard to find a good substitute. So I did what any good food blogger would do - I tried to make my own.

We are an open-bagel household; we love all kinds. Bagels have their place: everything or onion bagels for sandwiches, plain bagels for lox, etc etc. Our favorite bagel, though, is the cinnamon raisin. Its the perfect amount of sweet for breakfast and is good with cream cheese, butter, or even peanut butter. When it was time to decide what kind of bagel I would be making, cinnamon raisin was an easy choice.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

Sponge
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

Dough
1 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar
2 cups loosely packed raisins, rinsed with warm water to remove surfact sugar, acid, and natural wild yeast

To Finish
1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Melted butter for brushing (optional)
Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling (optional)

First, make the sponge. Mix the yeast and flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours, or until it becomes foamy and bubbly. The sponge should double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped.

To make the dough, add the rest of the yeast to the sponge and stir. Add all but 1/2 to 1 cup of the flour, and all of the cinnamon, sugar, salt and malt. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the ingredients form a ball, then slowly work in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff. Add the raisins at the end of mixing.

Transfer the dough to a countertop and knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should be firm, but still smooth and pliable. If the dough is too dry or rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough is tacky or sticky, add more flour. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

Immediately divide the dough into equal pieces - 12 (4 1/2 ounce) pieces for super sized bagels, 16 (3.375 ounce) regular-sized bagels, or 24 (2.25 ounce) perfectly smaller bagels. Form the pieces into rolls.

Cover the rolls with a damp towel and rest for 20 minutes.

Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil. Poke a hole in the center of a ball of dough and rotate your thumb to widen the hole. The dough should be stretched as evenly possible around the bagel.

Place the shaped pieces two inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels lightly with spray oil and cover each pan loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Check to see if the bagels are ready by using the “float test”. Fill a bowl with cool to room-temperature water. The bagels are ready if they float within 10 seconds of being put into the water. Take a bagel and test it. If it floats, return the bagel to the pan, dry it, then cover the pan and put it in the refrigerator overnight. If it does not float, return the bagel to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature. Check the dough every 10 minutes or so until a tester floats

 The following day preheat the oven to 500°F with both racks in the middle of the oven. Boil a large pot of water and add the baking soda. Sprinkle parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour.

Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit. They should float within 10 seconds. After 1 minute, flip them over and boil for another minute.

Place the boiled bagels back on the pans and bake for five minutes, then rotate the pans 180-degrees. Lower the oven temperature to 450°F and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the bagels are light golden brown.

Remove the bagels from the oven and let cool on a rack before serving.

The Mister's Birthday Meal

D is a simple man. He likes what he likes, dislikes what he doesn't, and has clear lines drawn between the two. He isn't overly excitable and he hardly ever gets mad. He wants very little, and what he does want, he gets. I love him for these qualities, but it sure does make his birthday tough :)

Speaking of birthdays, he recently celebrated his 25th. Between his job being crazy, the new house, life, etc we were pretty busy, but I made sure I had time to make him his birthday meal. Its the same every year - baked ziti for dinner, dirt dessert after. The key to a good baked ziti is a good sauce and this year I was able to make the sauce using tomatoes and herbs from our garden! Needless to say, it tasted better than last year.

Baked Ziti

My momma's recipe

For the sauce:
1 onion
3 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 tbsp garlic
a whole bunch of tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
red wine
salt and pepper
oregano
basil
1 lb ground beef, cooked
turkey sausage, to taste, cooked

Chop the aromatics and saute in olive oil in a large pot - I used my dutch oven. When the carrots are starting to soften add garlic and half of the chopped tomatoes. Cook until carrots are soft and tomatoes are bursting.

Remove from heat. Let cool, then puree in blender. Return the puree to low heat and add tomato paste, wine, and water as needed to get to a saucy consistency. Add remaining chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs; add meats. Let simmer for as long as possible to let flavors meld.

For the ziti:
2 boxes ziti, cooked
Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese

Combine cooked ziti and sauce in a large, oven safe pan. Stir in a few handfuls of cheese. Top with extra sauce and extra cheese. Bake until pasta is warm throughout, and cheese is melty and bubbly. Serve.

Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Swirl

I came home from work after a long, long day and was seriously not in the mood for dinner. I ate some refried beans - you know, for the nutritional value - and whipped up some of this ice cream. I can say with 100% confidence that it was a very, very good decision.




Double Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Swirl

Adapted from here

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth salted peanut butter

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir together cream, milk, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Heat until the milk and boil until thickened. The mixture will look the consistency of chocolate pudding. Remove from flame and stir in the the chocolate chips. 

Place mix in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge until cool.

Once cool, follow the manufacturers instructions on the ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Don’t over mix. You want a nice ribbon of peanut butter running through the ice cream.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Cover and freeze until solid.

Pizza Sauce

I've talked about my adoration for pizza, and my ongoing project to recreate the perfect Brooklyn pie. I've discussed dough and oven and things like that, but one thing I hadn't delved into, either on this blog or in my life, was pizza sauce. The Mister had been bugging me for a while to make my own sauce and I finally gave in tonight. I'm really glad I did because in the world of pizza making, this is the simplest part of pizza to tackle and it really made a big difference.

When researching sauces I found that traditional Neopolitan pizzas (which are most like the ones you can find in New York City) are generally made with sauces that are not cooked prior to going in the oven. This proved to be an easy way to wade through the millions of sauce recipes available on the web. I ended up combining a few recipes to come up with something that sounded tasty, was easy to make, and used only things I had on hand. It came out really well and truly made a difference in the overall taste.

Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
dash paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Whisk together all ingredients. Let sit for 1 hour before using to allow flavors to meld. Enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Despite my best efforts to get rid of any leftovers, I still had dulce de leche around the house. The situation was getting desperate - something had to be done to get that gooey, caramelly goodness out of my fridge. Luckily, I had this recipe in my pile of things-just-begging-to-be-made and a bunch of hungry coworkers to enjoy them.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway Books)

8 tbsp unsalted butter
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil to cover the bottom and the sides of the pan. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil.

Melt the butter and the chocolate over low heat in a medium saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, and flour.

Scoop only half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then drop one-third of the dulce de leche over the brownie batter and drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Repeat with remaining batter and dulce de leche.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until center is just set.

Challah for Rosh Hashanah

Challah has been on my to-make list for a long while. When the Mister and I started dating he introduced me to challah french toast and I've been hooked ever since. Because he is not particularly observant we usually only have a loaf around the holidays, and my yummy french toast is a special occasion treat.

Last year at this time I worked in an area with a large Jewish population. There was a bakery that I had heard good things about, so I decided to get our holiday loaves there. The day before Rosh Hashanah I stopped by on my lunch break and found a line out the door and around the corner - there was no way I was going to get back to work on time. Luckily, a patient of ours recognized my scrubs and not only let me cut ahead of her in line, but also bought me two loaves of bread!

This year, both to cross an item off my list AND to avoid that line, I decided to make my own challah. I roughly followed a recipe from The Complete American Jewish Cookbook, which has been my lifesaver as the main cook in a half-Jewish household. One change I did make was to add raisins, and I didn't braid the loaf as is tradition at Rosh Hashanah.

The loaf came out very pretty. It was really fun to make and even more fun to cut into and enjoy as a part of our Rosh Hashanah celebration. (PS - Challah + honey = yum) I'm really excited to make it again, and to try braiding.

Shana Tovah!

Challah

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup hot milk
3/4 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 eggs, 1 yolk reserved
3 cups flour
1 cup raisins

Melt the butter in the milk. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt and let cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, dissolve the yeast in the water. Let stand until yeast has activated. Mix in 1 full egg and 1 white, then pour into milk mixture and mix well.

Slowly pour in flour, mixing well. Knead until smooth and elastic (I used my mixer; the book says it should take about 5 minutes). Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

After the rise, punch the dough down. Flatten into a rectangular shape and pour raisins down the center. Fold top of dough over and pinch edges shut.

Roll the dough into a long rope. Coil the rope into a 9" cake pan or pie pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour, until puffy and full.

Whisk the reserved egg yolk with 1 tbsp cold water. Using a pastry brush, lightly cover the dough with the egg wash.

Bake at 375 for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Tent with aluminum foil if loaf becomes too brown.

Apricot Cherry Clafoutis

A few weeks ago a patient brought in some apricots from his tree. He brought several large bags, and any of the staff who wanted some had more apricots than they knew what to do with, including me. After a quick search on the internet (and a trip to the store for some cherries) I knew exactly what I would be making: clafoutis.

I'd had my eye on clafoutis recipes since this time last summer, when cherries were in season. I never did get around to making it last year, mostly because I ate all the cherries on their own before I had a chance to. By using apricots and cherries I had plenty of fruit for the clafoutis, and could still snack on cherries to my stomach's content.

Apricot Cherry Clafoutis

Adapted from here

6 large or 8 small fresh apricots, pitted and cut into chunks
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted
1 1/4 cups milk (low-fat or whole)
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
Powdered sugar for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and put the apricots and cherries into the pie plate.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Add the flour and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit and slip the dish into the hot oven.

Bake the clafoutis 45 minutes or until it is lightly browned around the edges and the custard is set - it will still be somewhat jiggly, but it should no longer be liquid in the center. Remove the pan from the oven and let the clafoutis cool to room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Gazpacho

I had gazpacho for the first time almost exactly two years ago. The Mister and I were on vacation at his family's beach house, along with his uncle and girlfriend. They made us dinner one night, and although I don't remember the main course at all, I do remember the meal started with a bowl of gazpacho.

It took me almost a year to move gazpacho out of the "to-make" list. When I did, I used a recipe I swiped from another blog that looked easier than most. It didn't turn out very well. In fact, when The Mister tried it, it didn't stay down very long. If you know what I mean. Another year later, I decided it was time to give gazpacho another shot.

This time I used a recipe from my go-to for the classics: The Dean and DeLuca Cookbook. And although I made some minor changes to fit my tastes, I stuck to the essentials of the recipe. The soup was exactly what I wanted: fresh, simple, and delicious with some home made croutons on top.


Gazpacho

From the Dean and DeLuca Cookbook

1 small can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 tbps olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

A few hours before serving, combine all ingredients. Let sit in a covered container to let the flavors mellow and combine.

Just before serving, blend 1/2 of the soup (or more, depending on your tastes). Serve topped with croutons.