Apple Sponge Cake

Fall is clearly here: fallen red leaves adorn the streets and trees paint the mountains with a beautiful combination of orange hues. One of the things I look forward during fall is apple and pumpkin picking.  For the past two years, we have gone to Paulus Orchards in York County, Pennsylvania, to pick apples. This season was no exception. Last Sunday, after having coffee and toast, the beautiful weather inspired us to get out of the house and go apple picking. Once at the orchard, we walked through the apple trees seeking the best apples. Many trees only had apples at the top which inspired Nate to pick me up on his shoulders so I could reach them. I am sure it was a funny sight – but our technique worked and we ended up with approximately 15 pounds of Fiji apples.

When we got home, we could not resist the fresh smell of the apples and ate one. Dear readers, the apples were delicious: crisp, sweet and full with flavor. That same day I decided to make an apple cake because the following day our friends Lou and Lauren were coming over for dinner. After reviewing several recipes, I decided to make an Apple Sponge Cake. The recipe was from a book I have had for years but had never tried before. Although the recipe did not look complicated, I was aware it was going to be time-consuming since the apples had to be cooked in butter and making a sponge cake always takes more time than making a “normal” cake. Sponge cakes are cakes that do not call for baking powder or baking soda and the eggs in the batter are the only leavening. Although I had made sponge cakes before, I had never used the genoise technique (you can read more about it here http://www.joyofbaking.com/FoamCakesTechniques.html ) this recipe called for. I ventured to try it and well… it was interesting. Although I truly believe that I performed the technique correctly (and as a consequence my right arm was sore for a day from beating the egg mix), the batter never rose more than an inch. Based on other sponge cake recipes I have tried, I believe that the batter should be doubled. The recipe only called for three eggs, other sponge cake recipes call for at least six eggs.

Although my cake looked incredibly thin – even with its apple filling – it looked beautifull. The cooked apples on top gave the cake a very classic look. The cake, although somewhat flat, was very good. It let the flavor of the apples shine but at the same time, the bread had a good sweet vanilla taste. My friends and husband loved it. I would make this recipe again; however, I would double the ingredients for the batter and use the separate egg technique rather than the genoise method.

So readers, if you have some apples in your kitchen, try this recipe. The cake is not fancy but it’s an excellent way to celebrate the arrival of autumn.

Genoese Sponge with Apples

Adapted from Le  Cordon Bleu, Home Collection, Cakes

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 large apples, peeled, halved and cored

1 ½ tablespoons butter

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

3 eggs

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 ½ tablespoons butter – melted but cool

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare the cake pan (grease, dust with flour and put it in the freezer).

2. Slice two of the apples into half rings. In a small skillet, gently melt the butter and vanilla together. Cook until brown and caramelized. Add the apple slices and cook over medium-heat until golden brown on both sides. Set aside to cool.

3. Coarsely dice the third apple into small pieces. Add a little more butter to the skillet of butter and sugar residue and cook the apple pieces quickly to golden. Allow to cool.

4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, then remove from the heat. Following the beating method (see below) combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a heatproof bowl or the top insert of a double boiler. Place over the pan, without touching the water and beat until the mixture is light and has tripled in volume.

5. Remove the bowl from the water and continue to beat until the mixture is cold. Sift together the flour and cinnamon and fold in until barely blended, then drizzle in the cool melted butter and fold carefully to incorporate.

6. Arrange the cooled apple slices neatly overlapping in the base of the prepared pan.

7. Spoon half the mixture into the cake pan, sprinkle the diced apples over the top and spoon the remaining  cake mixture over it.

8. Bake for about 25-30 min. or until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the case. Cool for 5-10 min before turning out, then remove the paper. Serve warm.

Beating method

a. Put the eggs and sugar together in a heatproof bowl.

b. Place the bowl insert over a pan of hot water and beat using a balloon whisk or electric portable mixer until the mixture is thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.

c. Remove the bowl or insert from the pan and continue to beat until cold. Gently fold in the sifted ingredients until just combined. Do not over fold or you will lose the air that has been beaten into the mixture.

Birria - Mexican Lamb Stew

Fall is here. Summer was over too soon and now foggy, rainy and windy mornings are the norm. During this time of the year, I crave stews and soups. I find it very comforting to come home after a long day at work and start making a good soup or stew accompanied by a good piece of freshly baked bread. It warms me up and reminds me that winter will be here soon.

Birria is a type of lamb stew very popular in Mexico City. I decided to make this dish when we joined North Mountain Pastures (a local meat CSA) and received a chunk of organic lamb as part of our monthly share. As soon as I realized we had lamb in our share, I remembered eating Birria in Mexico City for dinner at a local restaurant when I was younger. I had not had it in over 10 years but could still remember the taste of it. When I told my husband about it, he was not very excited. Although he likes lamb, he thought it would be “too plain” because the stew did not call for any vegetables or grains. I still made it and he, being the good sport that he is, tried it… and loved it. Making Birria is very easy. You only have to make the sauce for the stew and let all the ingredients cook in a Dutch oven for approximately three hours. In fact, we let it simmer unsupervised – as in we went out to watch a college football game at the local bar – for about two hours. When we came back, the house smelled like the stew I used to eat when I was little. The next day I added garbanzo beans to the stew because most of the meat was gone. If you feel like this stew is “too simple” add garbanzo beans. It makes a very good pairing with the rest of the ingredients.

Birria used to be peasants’ food and as a result, it is beautifully simple. It is very different from American stews as it is not dense and it does not call for potatoes or carrots. It is in fact very light – I guess due to the fact that peasants did not have a lot of food available to them. But do not let the simplicity of this dish fool you. The broth itself has a very complex and spicy – but not hot – taste. It is made mainly from hot dried peppers that are easily found in your local grocery store. The lamb adds a gamey flavor to the broth. Birria allows the flavors of the dried peppers and the sweetness of the lamb to merge, creating a delectable stew that will keep you warm after eating it.

So if you like lamb and want to try something new, give Birria a try. My husband, who was hesitant about the dish, raved about it.

P.S. If you live in Central Pennsylvania, check North Mountain Pastures, a farm in Perry County, PA, that sells organic meat. In addition, they are committed to sustainable agriculture and treat their animals very humanly. Here is the link:  http://www.northmountainpastures.com/

Birria  
Adapted from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook
By Susanna Palazuelos

Ingredients:
4 chiles guajillos
3 chiles anchos
1 cup hot water
2 lb boneless lean lamb or lamb shoulder, cut into pieces
12 cups water
6 garlic cloves
½ white onion
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. thyme
1 ½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Hot sauce, such as Valentina or Cholula

Garnishes:
3 limes
Chopped cilantro and onion

Directions:
1. On an iron skillet, toast the peppers, then remove the seeds and membranes. Soak the peppers in the hot water for about 20 minutes. Transfer the peppers and hot water to a blender and puree.

2. Place the lamb meat, water, garlic, and onion in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, skim the surface, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1 ½ hours or until the meat is tender. Remove and discard the onion and garlic. Add the pureed peppers, bay leaves, cumin, thyme, salt and pepper.

3. Cook for another 30 – 60 minutes so that the flavors blend.

4. Serve the stew in deep bowls. Add lime juice, hot sauce, onion and cilantro. Eat with warm corn tortillas.

Quiche Lorraine with Vegetables

This recipe was almost a disaster… but at the end, the results were great. Last week, I decided to make quiche since I had all the ingredients in my kitchen. I was very tempted to buy pie crust instead of making my own quiche crust but, since I was planning on posting this recipe for you, I decided to make everything from scratch. You would think that, since I had never made quiche crust before, I would follow the recipe instructions religiously, right? At least that is what any person with common sense would have done. Well, I skipped several steps thinking that they would not make a difference. Big mistake!

Everything was going as planned: the dough had a great consistency, I rolled the dough on a pie pan and put it in the oven, and I was preparing the filling. After the pie crust had been in the oven for a few minutes, I decided to peek at it. And that is when things started going downwards. The dough had shrunk! Yes, as in a few inches smaller. And it was bubbling. I stopped preparing the filling and in a hurry, I took the pie pan from the oven. It was at that point that I realized that I should have not skipped the step that indicated to put dried beans on top of the pie crust (who has dry beans anyway? Right?). I started pinching the dough with a fork to deflate the bubbles and with two wooden spoons tried to expand the dough. Once the dough had been extended to its original size, I put it back in the oven and continued making the filling. A few minutes later I decided to peek in the oven (praying that the dough had not shrunk again) and noticed that the edges of the dough were getting darker than the middle of it. Yes, I realized that I should have covered the edges with aluminum foil as the recipe indicated. Since the dough was almost done, I decided to take it out of the oven. I poured in the filling and put it back in the oven.

After 30 minutes in the oven, I was expecting my quiche to be ready, so I opened the oven and took the dish out of it. Surprise! The filling was not cooked yet. By this time, it was probably 7:30 and we were starving.  I put it back for another 10 minutes. At this point, the edge of the crust was getting a bit too brown. The filling was cooked, however, it was too soft to cut and eat.  I don’t know if the recipe was wrong as to the time the quiche needs in the over or if, when I altered the recipe, it changed the time the quiche needed to cook. That night, we did not it quiche. We ate stale pizza.

The following day, after the quiche had spent the night in the refrigerator, it was set and it looked beautiful! As soon as I had a bite I knew that all the trials and tribulations I went through in making it were worth it.  It was delicious. However, the next time I make it, I am going to buy pie crust. I will never, ever again, try to make it from scratch.

You should really try this recipe. The quiche was delicious. However, I recommend you to make it a day ahead so it has time to settle.  

Quiche Lorraine with Vegetables

Adapted from:  Savoring France by Georgeanne Brennan for Williams-Sonoma

Pastry

2 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

6 tbs. ice water

Filling

3 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

2 slices bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces

¼ cup corn kernels

1 poblano pepper (diced)

1 garlic clove

¼ yellow onion (sliced)

1 cup French style green beans (frozen)

Sal & Pepper

Directions

1.  To make the pastry, in a bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the butter (cut in thin squares), add the water, one tablespoon at time, while turning the dough lightly with a fork and then your fingertips.  Gather the dough into a ball (it should be a little crumbly), wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 425 F.

3. On a flour work surface, roll out the dough into a round about 10 ½ inches in diameter and about ¼ inch thick. Drape the pastry around the rolling pin and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie pan/ Pat into the bottom and sides and trim even with the rim. Line the pastry with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

4. Bake the pastry until set but not browned – approximately 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift out the weights and liner. Prick and bubbles with the tines of fork and return to the oven until firm and barely colored, 5 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and set aside.

5. Reduced the oven temperature to 375 F.

6. To make the filling, in a pan, cook the bacon, onion and poblano peppers for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.  In a bowl, stir together the eggs, milk and half-and-half, salt and pepper.

7. Pour the egg mixture over the pastry crust.  Carefully, scatter the bacon and vegetable mix (you may have some leftovers). Transfer the quiche to the oven and bake until the top is puffed and lightly golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean – approximately 35 minutes.

8. Take it out of the oven and let it cool until the filling settles.

Hummus

Lately, I have been eating a lot of Hummus… as in every day for lunch for the past two months. A friend of mine, realizing that I was bringing a new package of hummus to work every week told me “why don’t you make your own Hummus. You could save a lot of money.” After I told him that I didn’t know how to make Hummus, he proceeded to give me his recipe. Not only that, but the following day, he brought home-made hummus… and it was delicious.

As a result, for the past two weeks I have been making my own Hummus – in fact this week I had to make hummus twice because the husband is also eating it for lunch. At this point, you may be wondering, why are you two eating so much freaking hummus? No, we are no on a diet. We just like the flavor of it. We eat it on wraps, sandwiches, veggies, or with pita bread. In addition, it is very healthy. The garbanzo beans are full with fiber and the tahini with protein and vitamins. Hummus also fills you up and it is very versatile.

If you would like to give Hummus a try, I have a recipe for you. The recipe is very basic – no more than five ingredients: tahini, chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. I am a firm believe that you can create delicious dishes with a few ingredients, and hummus is one of them. The most expensive ingredient is the Tahini, but if you are going to make this recipe often, you will definitely save money. You can add roasted red peppers, olives, or sun-dried tomatoes to the original recipe to give it a “kick.”

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Tahini

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 can garbanzo beans (15 oz.)

1 red roasted pepper (optional)

Dried basil (to garnish)

Paprika (to garnish)

Directions:

In a blender (or mixer), mix all the ingredients until smooth. Add salt as needed. Serve on a plate and garnish with dried basil and paprika.

Tips: you can eat hummus as spread in sandwiches and wraps; as a dip; or with pita bread.