Mushroom, Spinach, and Rosemary Crostada

I was looking for a hearty appetizer to bring to a friend's Christmas cookie party.  I wanted it to be somewhat healthy, since no doubt we'd be filling up on cookies and mulled wine.

This crostata took some preparation time, about an hour, but was otherwise very easy.  I was disappointed to not come home with any leftovers. The pie crust I used was slightly more than half whole wheat, made with butter.  I also added the cayenne.

Here's what I used:

dough for a single-crust pie, chilled for about an hour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium onion, minced

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 box frozen spinach (10 oz), thawed, drained, squeezed dry in a towel, and chopped

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

freshly-ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup dry French vermouth (see note)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves

Heat butter and oil in a skillet set over a medium-high flame. After the butter melts and foam subsides, add the onions, mushrooms, spinach and rosemary. Season with salt,  pepper, and cayenne. Cover the pan and cook until the onions and mushrooms are soft — about 2 minutes. Then uncover, and toss the ingredients about with a spoon or spatula until the mushrooms have rendered their juices — about 5 minutes. Add the vermouth; stir. When the vermouth has boiled away, remove the pan from the heat. In a medium bowl, add the two cheeses and the rosemary and stir to combine.

Roll the dough into a 12-inch diameter circle, then place onto a buttered, rimless baking sheet. Spread the cheese mixture on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Spoon the mushroom mixture atop the cheese, then fold the 2-inch border of dough over the filling, making pleats every 2 inches or so. Gently pinch the pleats to seal.  Bake the tart on the lower-middle shelf at 400 degrees until the pastry browns, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then slide the tart onto a platter or wooden board. Dust with freshly-grated Parmesan. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Note:  I couldn't taste the vermouth.  Now granted, I didn't use the fancy French vermouth... I used a cheapo $3.99 bottle of Italian vermouth I got at Trader Joe's that had very little flavor (while packing an 18% alcoholic punch).  The next time I made it, I was liberal with the vermouth, and it still didn't make any difference.  So I say use whatever you've got:  vermouth, dry sherry, white wine, broth... maybe even beer!  Water in a pinch.

Conclusion:  This was delicious and very easy to put together.  I made it again immediately for myself.  I would, however, err on the side of less rosemary, as it was somewhat strong.  The added cayenne gave just a hint of heat.  Lemon zest might also be a nice addition to brighten the flavors.  Don't skimp on the cheese.

Original recipe:  Mushroom, Spinach & Rosemary Tart via A Garden for the House

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

This turned out to be a great little cookie.  I was pleased that it wasn't a hard gingersnap, as gingerbread made with butter tends to be.  But I would definitely decorate them with something else next time, as the sugar pearls were just way too sweet for my taste.  They tasted iced.

Since our brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added back into it, I never see the point of using brown sugar (which is more expensive) when molasses is already in the recipe, so I changed that out.  Otherwise, I prepared the recipe as written.

Here's what I used (yield 36 cookies):

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown white sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips
5 tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease lightly.  Combine the flour, baking soda, spices, salt, and cocoa.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy.  Add the molasses and beat until combined.  Beat in the dry ingredients, then stir in the chips.  Scoop the dough a tablespoon at a time; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Roll the top portion of each dough ball in pearl sugar.  Place the unbaked cookies 1½" apart, sugar side up, onto the prepared baking sheets.  Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until their surface begins to crack. (I baked them for only 10.  They were still VERY soft and puffed, and just beginning to crack.)  Remove from the oven, cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Conclusion:  These were good, easy -- something I would make again, but with a different topping.  (Either that or eliminate the ½ cup of sugar in the recipe.)  Perhaps real chocolate or colored jimmies, or LIGHTLY dusted powdered sugar.  I didn't notice the chocolate chips much -- chocolate lovers will want to use more chips.  These were never crunchy, and after a few days they mellowed to a tough-chewy.  Very nice.

Recipe:  Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies via King Arthur Flour

Cafe Pasqual's Pumpkin Pie... sort of

(Update:  a closer attempt at the restaurant's pie can be found here.)

 

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite foods in the world, especially cold for breakfast.  It is not uncommon for me to consume a whole pie by myself in two days.  For this reason, though, I tend to cut back on the sugar and the cream -- when you're putting away that much pie, you need to take it down a notch.

My all time favorite pumpkin pie was from New Frontiers, a small, organic grocery store.  When they were purchased by Whole Foods, we were told WF would keep the old recipes.  And they did, for a while.  But when I went the next Thanksgiving to get a slice of this seasonal pie, it wasn't available.  And now, I guess, that recipe is lost forever.

My second favorite pumpkin pie is from Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but a slice of that will set you back $12.

The two are very similar in that they are very dense and not very sweet.  I've always wondered how they get that dense texture.  I thought perhaps the pumpkin puree was cooked down a bit.  Cafe Pasqual's has a cookbook out, and they have a recipe for pumpkin pie in it, so I gave it a try (or at least what I thought was their recipe.  See my second, more successful attempt here.)

This is good, but it's not what they serve in the restaurant.  For one, it's considerably more sweet.  And there was a lot of liquid in it -- not that dense, thick texture I love.  I guess they're not giving away their secrets.

Here's what I used:

1 pre-baked whole wheat pie crust, fitted into a 9.5-inch* pie dish (recipe below)

4 large eggs

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, 100% pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup dark molasses

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon 1 tablespoon ground ginger**

1/4  teaspoon ground clove

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 scant teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2  teaspoon fine sea salt

1 scant teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup heavy cream

Prebake the pie crust and cool crust completely. While crust is cooling, preheat oven to 400 degrees and begin to prepare the filling.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whisk.  Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine.  Next mix in the maple syrup and molasses, followed by the sour cream, spices, salt, vanilla extract and finally the heavy cream, mixing with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into baked pie shell crust and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, until center is almost set and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the crust edges are browning too quickly, fit a ring of foil around the rim. Let pie cool completely on a rack before serving.   Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust (for 1 crust pie)

1¼ cup all purpose whole wheat flour (use pastry flour if desired)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 cubes

1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into roughly 1/2-inch cubes

3-4 tablespoons ice water

1 egg

1 tablespoon of water

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt.  Add cold butter and shortening cubes to flour mixture and, with a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in fat until mixture forms clumps about the size of tiny peas (clumps will be uneven.)  Quickly sprinkle ice water 1 tablespoon at a time over all of the flour mixture, tossing lightly with a spoon until you can form the dough into a ball.  (Don’t overwork dough.)  Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest refrigerated for an hour or longer. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take the pie disk out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften a bit.  Roll into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick.  Fit dough into the bottom of the pie dish and dedecoratively crimp edges.  Line the shell with a piece of crumpled parchment paper or foil, then fill the pie shell with a layer of dried beans or other pie weights. Bake for about 15 minutes or just until crust starts to brown. While crust is baking, in small bowl whisk together the egg and tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Remove crust from the oven, take pie weights out and brush the egg wash mixture all over crust (this will seal the crust preventing wet filling from making it soggy.)  Bake for another 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

*The mix fit perfectly in a 9.5-inch pie pan that was 1.5 inches deep.

Conclusion:  This was a little too sweet for my taste, but it's fine if you're having just one piece for dessert.  The sweetness was very tolerable, not candy-like -- I suppose because it came from the maple syrup.  It also had a strong ginger taste, which at first I thought was too strong, but the next day thought it was okay.  I would, however, like to try it again with the Libby's (my third favorite pie) spice mix and perhaps only 2 teaspoons of ginger.

Recipe:   The Best Pumpkin Pie!!! via Jessica Collins TV***, adapted from David's Perfect Pumpkin Pie via Cooking with Cafe Pasqual's: Recipes from Santa Fe's Renowned Corner Cafe .   (1/20 update:  the original link to Jessica Collins TV no longer works, but her current recipe--- without reference to Cafe Pasqual's--- can be found here.)

 

**Cafe Pasqual's recipe contains 1 tablespoon of ginger.  Jessica Collins' recipe contains only 1/2 teaspoon.

***Kudos to The Wayback Machine for helping me find Collins' original post from November 22, 2010 after her site was taken down.

Happy Halloween! Spicy Skull Brownies

I was charged with bringing a pan cookie to a Halloween party.  To make this pan of brownies more festive, I came up with this idea to create a skull face on the pan.  I made a template from an on-line image, pinned it to the brownies with toothpicks, then carefully applied a thin layer of royal icing to fill it in.  When I realized I had a "hatchet" that would add to the image, the blood naturally followed (... so to speak.)

Here's what I used (for the brownies):

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons ground ancho chile pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
9 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 3-quart square baking dish or a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, chile pepper, cinnamon, salt, and ginger; set aside. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler or a large heat-proof bowl. Set over a pan of barely simmering water (the bottom of the pan should not touch the water). Heat and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Remove from heat, keeping pan or bowl over water. Add both sugars; whisk until completely combined. Remove from water. Mixture should be at room temperature. Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Do not overbeat the batter or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold until there is just a trace amount of flour mixture visible. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish or pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool completely on a wire rack. (If desired, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cocoa powder mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper.)

Hmmm... as I re-read this recipe now, I thought I had increased the quantity of ancho chili because it seemed too low.  Now I'm wondering if I was looking at the 1/2 teaspoon at the end of the recipe.  I'm sure I would have thought 4 teaspoons was plenty!  If I bumped it up to 1 teaspoon, then no wonder it wasn't noticeable.  Perhaps it was the ginger I increased.  Well, this is what happens when you wait two months before writing up the blog post.

Conclusion:  I wasn't very pleased with these.  They had the somewhat chalky dryness that I think comes from too much chocolate, and weren't fudgy at all.  (I suppose I might have overbaked them, though I checked them early.)  And even with increasing the spices, the spices still weren't especially noticeable. 

Recipe:  Sweet & Spicy Brownie Bites via Better Homes and Gardens, February 2015

October ABC Challenge: Spiced Apple Cream Cheese Cake

For the cake:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder 
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
½ cup evaporated milk

For the cheesecake:
1 package (250 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp each freshly grated nutmeg and ground clove
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp all-purpose flour

For the topping:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 whole cloves
1 ¼ lbs tart apples, such as Granny Smith or Northern Spy (about 4 apples), cored, peeled and chopped into 1/3-inch cubes
2 tbsp granulated sugar 
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round springform pan with butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

To make the topping, fold together apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Heat butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat until the foam subsides. Add whole cloves so they infuse the butter and then add the apple mixture. Toss until they just begin to soften, but not until they’re mushy, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer apples back to the bowl, discard cloves and set aside to cool completely while you prepare the rest of the cake.

To make the cheesecake batter, beat cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until smooth and the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 40 seconds. Beat in the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove until combined. Add egg yolk and flour and beat just until incorporated and batter is smooth. Set this aside while you make the cake batter.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. In another medium bowl, beat butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla until combined. Add egg and beat until well incorporated and batter is fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add one-third of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until mostly combined. Beat in half of the evaporated milk until blended. Repeat this step by adding half the remaining flour mixture followed by the last of the milk, beating no more than 15 seconds between additions. After the last bit of milk has been added, beat on medium speed for 3-5 seconds to just make sure the batter is smooth. Fold in the last of the flour mixture by hand using a rubber spatula until evenly combined. 

Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture over the cake batter and use a butter knife or the back end of a spoon to lightly swirl it in to sort of fuse the two batters together. Gently spoon cooled apples over the batter in an even layer and bake until the cake wobbles ever so slightly in the middle, 45-50 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool completely.

Conclusion:  Cake was a little too sweet and not an interesting addition.  Better with cheddar.
Left skins on.
Added salt, about 1/2 t ? To batter, prob could use more.
Baked ~15 min longer for 2.
Cloves ground is fine.

Recipe:  Spiced Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake via Scientifically Sweet

Banana Oatmeal (wheat free) Muffins

This is a pretty simple recipe for a basic banana muffin, but the oatmeal makes it more dense and chewy than muffins made with wheat.  I wanted to make these a little more healthy, so I added flax seeds, cut out the white sugar, and reduced the sugar quantity substantially.  I added ginger because I really like the ginger/banana combination.

For 6 muffins, here's what I used:

1¼ cups old fashioned oats
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 tablespoon whole flax seed
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
3/8 cup sugar 1 tablespoon sucanat
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate

Heat oven to 350F.  Blend the oats with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger in a food processor for about 10 seconds until fine.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until well mixed. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate.  Scoop into muffin tins and bake 30-35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and muffins are nicely browned.  Remove from tins and allow to cool for a few minutes; serve warm.

Conclusion:  Good.  Nice nubbly texture from the oatmeal, and also quite moist, with a very mild sweetness.

Original recipes:  Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins via Debbie Reichert Fitness, which was based on Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins via Well Traveled Wife.

June ABC Challenge: Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Not to be trapped in the house over the holiday weekend with a full batch of intensely chocolate cookies, I cut this recipe down by one quarter.  The only other change I made was to reduce the amount of sugar.  Here's what I used:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ teaspoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ ounce finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
¼ (about 14 grams) large egg
1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons powdered sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in chopped chocolate.  Whisk together egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture and stir with a fork until mixture is moistened and combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Shape dough into small heaped teaspoon-sized balls. Roll each in powdered sugar to coat; place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just set but still slightly gooey in the dead centers. Let cool on sheets for just a minute before carefully transferring to wire racks to cool completely, or serve warm.  Yield:  5 cookies

These didn't flatten much during baking, which caused me to over baked them slightly (they weren't gooey in the center).  I might not have used quite enough butter, as it's hard to measure out that small of an amount.  I suspected I might be shorting it at the time I was mixing them.

Conclusion:  Not impressed.  I blame myself for the uninteresting texture, which was soft and cake-like.  But they just weren't all that rich or chocolaty.  I can't think of when I might want something just sort of chocolaty; if I want a chocolate baked good, then I'll want it very chocolaty, and the only answer for that is cake or brownies.  I've yet to find a chocolate cookie that's worth the effort. This was no exception.

Recipe:  Tender Loving Crackle Cookies via Scientifically Sweet