Clam Chowder with smoked salmon

 This may be a little more exotic than your grandmother's clam chowder but it's a lot more interesting.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter

1 onion, minced

2 carrots, minced

2 celery stalks, minced

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, minced

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups corn 

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons dulse flakes

1 tablespoon thyme

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1 cup white wine

1 quart chicken or shrimp stock

16 oz chopped clams

1 lb cod filet, chopped into 1 inch pieces

4 oz smoked salmon, chopped up

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon capers

salt and pepper to taste

In a large heavy pot, melt the butter over medium heat, and saute the onion gently in it for a couple of minutes, until transparent.  Add the carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, corn, and spices and saute briefly.  Add the wine and bring to a simmer, perhaps reduce it a little.  Add the stock and simmer until the vegetables are al dente.  Add the seafood, cream, and capers and give it a stir and simmer another 5-10 minutes.  Correct the seasonings and serve.  

Tube pan version of Bolos de Arroz

Bolos de arroz are a wonderful Portuguese pastry -- usually made as a sort of muffin or cupcake.  This recipe is made for a small tube pan, like a sponge cake, and makes a very nice afternoon snack, with the consistency of a sweet cornbread.  You can also make this recipe the traditional way, as a sort of high-sided cupcake.  I have seen recipes that use only rice flour, which will give you a denser cake, but still tasty, if you want a gluten-free option. 

1/4 lb (113 grams) butter at room temperature

1/4 cup  (50 grams) neutral oil like corn oil or canola

1 cup (225 grams) sugar and more for sprinkling

4 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups flour (200 gr) 

2/3 c rice flour (100 gr) -- if you don't have rice flour, grinding up rice in a blender, food processor, or coffee grinder is always an option, but make sure you sieve it or your cakes will be crunchy! Some people soak the rice first to soften it.

2  tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

the zest of 1 lemon

2/3 c (150 ml) of milk

1. butter and flour the tube pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  you can also use a bundt pan. 

2.  cream the butter, oil, and sugar together until light 

3. add the eggs one at a time until each is incorporated

4. in a small bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, zest, and salt

5. add the flour mixture to the batter alternately with the milk, in 2 or 3 divisions

6.  pour the batter into the tube pan and sprinkle a little sugar on top of the batter 

7.  bake about 30-40 minutes or until the cake is slightly brown around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean.  

8.  take the cake out of the oven and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes, then invert gently.  cool on a rack.  Because of the sugar sprinkled on top I usually serve it sugar side up.  

Ada Boni’s Lasagne Bolognese

This is a big effort, but yields a lot of lasagne for freezing or for a crowd, and personally I find it very soothing to make the noodles. I generally make the meat sauce a day ahead, and sometimes the besciamella  also. Using a food processor to chop the vegetables very finely makes a smoother sauce. Adapted from Ada Boni’s wonderful 1969 “Italian Regional Cooking”

This recipe makes exactly one 10x17 lasagne pan

Bolognese Ragu

12 tablespoons butter, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2/3 cup of bacon (about 4-5 strips), finely chopped
1 1/2 LB of ground meat - I like a combination of beef and pork sausage. Ada also used some chicken livers
1 cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk or half and half

Heat half of the butter and all of the olive oil in a deep Dutch oven. Sauté the vegetables and bacon gently over low heat until the vegetables soften.  Push them the the side and add the meat and sauté gently until they begin to brown. Add the wine and cook gently until it evaporates. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomato paste and stock, cover and cook slowly for 90 minutes, adding a little more stock if needed. After 90 minutes add the cream and continue cooking until it is reduced. Add the remaining butter.


Besciamella Sauce

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups hot milk

Melt the butter in a pan with a heavy bottom. Stir in the flour and salt to make a roux. Cook gently for a few minutes without browning it, and then gradually add the hot milk, whisking constantly.  Continue cooking until the sauce is thick and smooth. Take it off the heat and beat it lightly. Can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator with a piece of cling wrap laid directly on the top to keep a skin from forming.


Spinach lasagne noodles

About 8-10 oz of cooked spinach, chopped
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons dry white wine
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting

About 8 oz grated Parmesan Cheese for assembly

Wrap the spinach in a clean dish cloth and squeeze As much water out as possible. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a ball of pasta. Knead the ball on the counter until it gets smooth.  Wrap in cling wrap and let it rest at least a half an hour. The dough should feel moist but not sticky. Divide in four parts. Roll out each part one at a time, Dusting each strip with flour as needed to keep it from sticking to the pasta roller. I like to roll out the noodles to the next-to-last setting on the pasta machine. Cut the noodles to slightly smaller than needed to fit your pan and place them on a flannel sheet. You should get about 7 or 8 layers of noodles.

Assembling the lasagne: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350. Spoon a little meat sauce on the bottom of a 10x17 baking pan or brunch with melted butter. Cook one layer of noodles at a time, draining each and running under cold water and patting dry on a clean dish towel and then laying it in the pan. Spread thinly with besciamella, then meat sauce, then sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat until the pan is full.  The top layer should be a layer of noodles sprinkled with Parmesan. Bake for about 30-40 minutes.

Lasagne holds together much better if you put it in the fridge and heat it up and eat it the next day. You can do this either before or after you bake it. Unless I’m making this for a party, I usually cut it up into meal-sized portions after it's baked, wrap it up, and freeze it.

Carol's Famous Lemon Chiffon Pie

4 egg yolks
1c. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 c. Lemon juice(use only fresh)
1 t. Grated lemon rind
2t. Gelatin softened in 1/4 c cold water
4 egg whites
Baked pie shell or graham cracker crust

Beat yolks, add 1/2 c sugar, salt,and lemon juice. 
Cook and stir in double boiler until it thickens.
Add gelatin until it dissolves. Cool (in frig). 
When it begins to set, beat egg whites until stiff with remaining sugar and fold them (carefully) into mixture. 
Pour into pie shell and chill. 

If you want an extra rich pie, fold in 1/2 c heavy cream or beat it and put on top of pie. I grate more lemon rind on top before serving.

Cherry Almond Cake

Bing cherries can be a little boring in baked goods, unless they're punched up a little.  Cherry and almond flavors go very well together.  This recipe is great if you find yourself with a bag of slightly aged Bing cherries, as I did last week.  It makes a very moist cake. 

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter

3/4 pound (350 grams) fresh sweet cherries, divided

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (55 grams) almond meal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup (80 ml) milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 inch spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Rinse, dry, and pit all the cherries. Take about 14 cherries, cut them in half, and set them aside to be placed on the top of the cake during baking. To the rest of the cherries, cut into quarters.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and light colored (about 3-5 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and almond extract. Then fold in, with a rubber spatula or wire whisk, the melted and cooled butter and milk. Next, fold in the flour mixture just until moistened. Gently fold in the quartered cherries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. 

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Quickly arrange the remaining cherries, cut side down, on the top of the cake. Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. If you find the cake over-browning, cover with a piece of aluminum foil.

Lemon Ricotta Cake

 This quick recipe makes a delicious light cake, not too sweet, very moist.  It’s a great way to use up that last cup of leftover ricotta.  I love using my late mother-in-law's vintage tube pan, it makes me think of her.  

·       9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

·       1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

·       3 large eggs, room temperature

·       1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

·       1 pinch salt

·       1 cup fresh ricotta

·       Zest of 1 lemon

·       1 tablespoon baking powder

·       2 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional) 

·       Confectioners' sugar for serving

1.    Heat the oven to 400° F. Butter and flour a 9- or 10-inch springform pan or tube pan or bundt pan.

2.    Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3.    On the lowest speed, add the eggs one at a time.

4.    Slowly add the flour, salt, ricotta, lemon zest, baking powder, and poppy seeds (if using).

5.    Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and the sides start to pull away from the pan.

6.    Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out of the pan and cool completely on the rack. Sift confectioners' sugar over the top, or serve with your favorite seasonal fruit, or make a little drizzle by mixing lemon juice and confectioner's sugar.

Hawaiian Passionfruit Butter Mochi

If you're looking for good gluten-free dessert recipes, one place to start is with cultures that use other grains, like rice and corn, for their pastries.  So Asian, Italian, and Mexican cuisines are often my go-to for inspiration.

I was trying to come up with a dessert to take to my wonderful step daughter, who is gluten-free.  I was GOING to make Tang Yuan, those delicious balls with glutinous rice flour and black sesame inside -- but they aren't really suited to the hurly burly of 20-something life.  So I thought of making mochi, which freeze very well.  Then I remembered a wonderful cross-cultural dish I'd had many years ago in Hawaii -- butter mochi.

Butter mochi are a great combination of western and eastern cooking -- it combines glutinous rice flour, known as 'mochiko' in Hawaii, and the standard eggs and butter of Western desserts.  It's got that great mochi texture and it's not too sweet.  What's not to like?  I love the taste of passion fruit, so for this recipe I substituted passion fruit pulp for the traditional evaporated milk.  If you like, you can sprinkle sugar or a passion fruit-sugar glaze, or coconut, on top to make this prettier, but it's pretty addictive as is.  I think I'm going to try matcha butter mochi, too.

Passion fruit pulp is available in most Hispanic groceries.

Ingredients:

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted
16 oz glutinous rice flour (mochiko)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 14 oz can coconut milk
3/4 cup passion fruit pulp

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a 10x14 baking dish with parchment.  Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and pour into the baking dish.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown on top.  If you are adding coconut or sugar, you should add it in the last 10 minutes of baking.  If you are glazing, add the glaze after you take it out of the oven, but before it's completely cool.  Cool and cut into whatever size you like.  Note that the texture and taste of the mochi will change quite a bit between when you take it out of the oven and when it is cool, so leave some time between baking and serving.  Mochi stores quite well, but I usually store it in the refrigerator, wrapped up.