3rd Annual Latke Dinner

For the past two years, Chanukah has been so early that I wasn't able to celebrate it with my family.  In lieu of being with my family and eating my mom's delicious latkes, I started my own tradition of cooking this customary Chanukah recipe for my friends up at school.  Even though Chanukah is at a reasonable time this year, I've really enjoyed this yearly shin-dig and have decided to continue my new tradition! So put on your yarmulke, it's time for Chanukah...I hope I don't burn my apartment down.

Latkes

6 large potatoes (about 3 pounds)*
2 yellow onions
4 eggs
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup flour
Peanut oil
*frozen shredded potatoes (hashbrowns) works just as well

1) Shred potatoes into a bowl of water (to help prevent browning).  Let them sit for a while, then drain well, keeping the starch at the bottom of the bowl.  Squeeze as much water out as possible.

2) Shred onions and add them to potatoes along with beaten eggs, salt/pepper, and flour.  Blend well.

3) Fry in hot oil.  If they fall apart, add more flour.

It tasted like home!  I am so thankful for the friends who came and ate my latkes! I also made some vegan latkes for one of my friends.  They were delicious too!

Pickling Adventure

There's an older lady whom I volunteer with at the hospital.  If you know me, then you've probably heard some of my crazy Carolyn stories.  Well despite some of her...faults, Carolyn is a sweet lady.  Maybe a little too sweet?  Last night she gave me approximately five pounds of cucumbers and a large dill plant.  I wish I was exaggerating.  Given the large amount of cucumbers I suddenly have, I figured it was time to try pickling again.  I say again because as a child, I would pickle the little cucumbers we grew in our vegetable garden. However, my mom later revealed that it had never worked, so she fed me store bought pickles and let me think I was the next Martha Stewart.  I found a pretty simple recipe for refrigerator dill pickles on cooks.com and, thus began the adventure.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
6 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cups canning salt (or 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon kosher salt)
pickling cucumbers
1 large bunch of fresh dill weed
1 large onion
2 or 3 whole cloves (I'm a rebel so I used 3)
Sliced garlic (2 teaspoons or whatever you feel like)

1) Combine water, vinegar, and salt in a large pot (if the pot is non-stick, make sure there are no cracks). Bring to a boil to make the pickling solution.

2) Wash the cucumbers.  Layer whole, unpeeled cucumbers, onion, cloves, garlic, and dill in jar.  Pour the pickling solution over the top.  Let the jars sit on the counter for 3 or 4 hours.

3) Refrigerate. They will be ready in 2 to 4 days.

One of many jars immediately after pickling. I will update in 2 to 4 days!

Vanilla Oatmeal Almond Cookies

I was bored and a tad peckish, so I decided to make cookies. However, my available ingredients were pretty limited.  I typed in almonds, oatmeal, and cookie into Google.  Lo and behold I found a recipe from a blog called Anja's Food 4 Thought for vanilla oatmeal almond cookies.  I still didn't have all the necessary ingredients for it (such as almond flour instead of all-purpose flour), but I improvised and it turned out pretty well.

Vanilla Oatmeal Almond Cookies

1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine the egg and sugar and beat until creamy.  Add the melted butter and the vanilla, stir until combined, and set aside.

2) In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and almonds.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.

3) Drop teaspoons of batter onto a lined baking sheet, leaving 2-3 inches of room in between.  Sprinkle with a little more almond.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.  Let cool completely.

They smelled absolutely wonderful, but weren't very flavorful. I guess the moral of that story is always add more butter and sugar!

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Basil Oil

I volunteer at the local hospital where I go to school.  It's a lot of fun, but sometimes it can be excruciatingly boring.  Thus, the hospital is the only place where I read magazines.  Now these are waiting room magazines, like Family Life, Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens, and Sunset.  Although I am completely not in the target audience of these magazines, they do have some really tasty recipes in them.  So sometimes when I come across a good recipe, I'll grab a piece of scrap paper from the information desk and scribble it down.  Last Friday, when I was working I found a recipe for a pasta with goat cheese and a basil infused oil for sauce.  It sounds delicious, and I'm always looking for non-red sauce pasta options.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Basil Oil (for 4 servings)

gemelli, rotini, or some other short spiral-like pasta
2 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
4 oz fresh goat cheese
salt and pepper

1) Cook the pasta according to instructions on the box.

2) Puree the fresh basil leaves with the oil.  Pour through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids.

3) Toss the pasta with the basil oil, the crumbled goat cheese, a handful of fresh basil leaves, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Well that was super easy and quite delicious!

Upside Down Banana Cake

Doesn't that just sound amazing? Upside Down Banana Cake.  My friend, Alison, and I have been getting together to watch Batman related films and anime recently.  Some sort of baked good usually accompanies that. Last night we made this delicious cake to eat while watching an anime called Akira.  I stumbled upon the recipe on a blog named The Wicked Noodle, and apparently this dessert is very popular in Brazil. As far as cakes from scratch go, this one was really easy.

Upside Down Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar (for the caramel)
5 to 6 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 large eggs, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (for the cake)
1 cup milk

1) In a metal baking pan (about a 10 inch round), place the 1 1/2 cups sugar and bring to medium heat to make a dry caramel.  When it is fluid and amber in color, distribute the caramel evenly along the bottom of the pan and on the sides. Set aside.

2) Slice the bananas lengthwise and place them flat side down over the caramel.  Place them close together and close to the sides of the pan.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Set aside.

4) Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Set aside.

5) With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and egg yolks until very light and creamy.

6) Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternative with the milk. Mix until flour is all mixed. With a big spatula, fold in the egg whites.

7) Pour the batter over the caramel and banana layer evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes until it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test.  Let the cake rest and cool a bit, but flip it out of it's pan while it is still warm so that the caramel will seep into the cake.

A bit of a warning: when you flip the cake out of the pan, molten caramel may drip on you! This cake was moist, light, and totally helped take the edge off watching Akira!  Thanks Alison!

Harry Potter Mini-Feast!

Last night, at the midnight premiere, my friend Noel and I held each other and wept as we witnessed the end of Harry Potter. To gear up for this momentous occasion, we decided to crack open my Harry Potter cookbook and try a couple recipes out.  For dinner, we prepared Kreacher's French Onion Soup (vegetarian style) and Harry Potter's favorite childhood treat, treacle tarts. In the books, we learn that Harry loves anything treacle, and  in The Order of the Phoenix, he enjoys a treacle tart in the great hall while Ron and Hermione argue.  In the seventh book, Kreacher says he will prepare his delicious french onion soup for when Harry, Ron, and Hermione return from the ministry.  Unfortunately, they never got to have that soup, but Noel and I did!  As for the treacle tarts....oy.

Kreacher's French Onion Soup

1 large onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 baguette
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
4-6 cups vegetable or mushroom broth (if you don't want it vegetarian, use chicken or beef)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the onions, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice as thinly as you can.  Then chop those slices in half to make smaller onion pieces.  In a heavy soup pot, heat the butter then remove the pot from the heat.

2) Slice the baguette into six 1-inch thick slices for croutons. Dip a pastry brush into the melted butter in the pot and brush one side of each slice.  Place the slides butter-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cheese.  Toast the bread in the oven for about 10 minutes or until browned.

3) While the bread toasts, return the pot to the heat and add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the sugar and continue to stir over medium-high heat until the onions are browned, about 15 minutes.

4) Blend in the flour. Gradually add the stock while stirring and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

5) Ladle the soup into bowls and float one (or two) or the croutons in the center, then sprinkle more Parmesan all over.

It was so easy to make, and turned out wonderfully! I will be enjoying it for lunch for days! Now for the treacle tarts, sigh.  The recipe calls for you to make your own dough and to make one big tart that serves 8.  Well, we decided to be lazy and use pre-made graham cracker crusts, so this is the abridged version of this recipe.

Lazy Treacle Tarts

1 cup golden syrup or light molasses or corn syrup (we used molasses, I would not recommend it)
2 1/4 cups fresh bread crumbs
zest and juice of one lemon
pre-made graham cracker tart crusts

1) Warm the syrup or molasses in the microwave for one minute.  Combine with the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix well.

2) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrape the filling into the prepared crusts and smooth the top with a spatula.

3) Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake another 25 minutes until slightly browned.  Serve with warm custard or whipped cream.

Then hand them out to unsuspecting people waiting in line for Harry Potter because these were not good. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised.  Ah well, the soup was good. Thanks Noel!

Rhubarb, Raspberry, Strawberry, Almond Pie! oh my!

I love rhubarb pie. It is my absolute favorite pie. For my bat mitzvah, I didn't let my mom (a professional cake lady) make me a cake...I had strawberry, rhubarb pie.  This is a recipe that I followed from Centsational Girl blog, but that I also altered to meet my own delicious needs.  Also got inspiration from a shop in Bellingham called Manpies, who made a very similar pie.

Rhubarb, Raspberry, Strawberry, Almond Pie

1 1/2 cups raspberries
3 stalks diced (or sliced) rhubarb
1 cup strawberries, chopped
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 package of Pure Almond Paste
1 handful of sliced almonds

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray pie dish (or 9 x 13 dish) with cooking spray.  Roll out the almond paste to make a bottom pie crust.  Place the crust in the dish.  Add the chopped fruit.

2)Mix the cornstarch and sugar together, then sprinkle the mixture over the chopped fruit.

3) In a mixer, or by hand, blend the flour, rolled oats. brown sugar, cinnamon, sliced almonds, and butter in tablespoon increments.  Pulse it in the mixer or by hand until blended (this part didn't go quite so well with me, but it was fine).  Use your fingers to crumble topping together.

4) Cover the fruit in the topping.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes until lightly brown on top and when the fruit mixture thickens and bubbles.

    It is soooooo good. It was also the first time my friend Roland has ever had rhubarb (I doubt it will be his last).